On A Doorstep
by HappyFrogLegs
Summary: One night during the Skeleton King war, a baby monkey was dropped off to the foot of the robot...then two more...then another...then another...then another! Who is dropping off these babies and why?Rated for language, mpreg and themes of depression, ptsd, and mental illness. MUCH more darker than my other stories, at least I think. MXO and other pairings up in this.
1. Chapter 1

Okay I am so sorry this took so long to post. I had many things going on so hopefully the wait has been worth it. So here's the first chapter and I am warning all of you right now, this will have mpreg up to the max. If that was just a small thing going along with my mary sue take on An Excuse Maybe? Then this is put front and center so if that's not your thing at all then I don't suggest reading this if you don't want to. I'll be perfectly fine if you don't want to read this, soon enough I'll post a fic where it doesn't have that sort of thing in there. Like a multi chapter fic, trust me I got plenty of ideas! Also there are themes of depression, ptsd, and mental illness in it. If that also makes you uncomfortable then you don't have to read it. I'll explain my reasons why I added this in another time, but please enjoy.

* * *

The streets of Shuggazoom were unusually quiet this time of night, Formless and Skeletal soldiers were nowhere to be found and the Hyperforce and Allies could actually get some sleep. It was rather a peaceful night too, the breeze was cool and the night was full of stars that weren't scared away by the city's lights.

However that quiet peaceful atmosphere was interrupted by a small cry. At the foot of the Super Robot, a small bundle wrapped in pink cloth was set down. The small bundle cried, desperately wanting comfort and the person who laid them down. The figure quickly looked around, making sure no one was following them. The figure looked back at the bundle before they picked it back up and held them close. Before setting it back down again, the figure left a small notecard near them. They turned and began to walk away, when the bundle cried harder, making the figure stop. The figure swallowed the lump growing in their throat and had to hold back before continuing to walk off into the dark.

The bundle cried for a bit longer until the small door opened. A figure walked out of the robot and picked up the bundle. The bundle was held close to the light, revealing a baby auburn yellow monkey with light blue eyes. The baby kept crying until the figure shushed them, settling them. His coal black eyes were comforting and the red fur was interesting to the baby as they slowly stopped crying.

"Hey don't cry kiddo, where the heck did you come from?" Sprx questioned before looking down at the notecard.

He picked it up, hoping to find answers. Instead all he got was one word.

'Angela'.

"Angela...is that your name kid?" Sprx asked, smiling.

Angela blinked before cooing loudly. Sprx looked into the dark streets, trying to see if anyone was around. However he found nothing.

"Who left you out here? I gotta get the others." Sprx said, going back inside.

* * *

Angela giggled as Jinmay tickled her.

"Oh she's adorable!" Jinmay gushed.

Nova eyed Sprx.

"Yeah, where did she come from?" She asked.

Sprx rubbed his head, his eyes glued to Angela.

"That's what I'd like to know, I just found her outside, crying her tiny head off." Sprx said.

Antauri placed a hand on his chin as the others quickly entered the room. Chiro was still in his pajamas and his hair was a mess, yet he was fully wide awake.

"What's going on?" Chiro asked before seeing the baby monkey.

His eyes widened as Otto squeaked and rushed over to the baby.

"A baby monkey?! Where-how?!" Chiro sputtered as Otto fawned over the small baby.

Antauri crossed his arms as Gibson's mouth was open ajar.

"Sprx found her outside with only a nametag. The cameras were being repaired so we didn't get to see who set her here." He explained.

Chiro looked at Angela, who kept giggling and cooing at Otto.

"Who could have set a small baby monkey here? Where did she even come from?" Chiro wondered.

Sprx went over to him and patted him.

"Oh kid, it's time we had that talk. You see when two people love each other very much-" Sprx began before Nova pulled him away.

Gibson picked up Angela and set her on a metal table.

"In any case before we try to find out where she came from we need to do a check up on her, in case she's ill." He said before unwrapping the cloth.

However when he fully unwrapped the cloth he did a double take and backed up a bit.

"Great Scott!" He exclaimed.

Jinmay worriedly looked over her before putting a hand over her mouth, horrified at what she saw. Her right leg was completely gone from the knee up. Sprx and Chiro immideatly felt sick, but didn't vomit as Nova clutched Sprx's hand. That is indescribably horrible! Otto gasped and wanted to do something, but instead he couldn't move while Antauri's face was a mix of reactions. Angela worriedly looked between Gibson and the others before crying. Jinmay quickly picked her up and held her close.

"Oh no honey don't cry! We didn't mean to...I mean...oh you poor thing." Jinmay lamented before resting her cheek against hers.

Angela kept crying, not sure why everyone was so sad.

"Her leg...it's completely gone!" Gibson wheezed.

"W-where'd it go?" Otto asked, looking around on the floor.

"She must have been born without it. Maybe that's why she was left here, so she wouldn't have been tossed aside." Antauri figured, finding it hard to speak.

The team looked down sadly as Angela sniffled. They felt so bad for her, what did this poor child do to deserve this? She was so innocent, yet they knew that sometimes these things happened. It was an awful and sad but it just happens sometimes .

"We can't just leave her, she needs someone to love and take care of her. What do we do Chiro?" Jinmay asked.

Everyone looked to Chiro, who kept staring at Angela. He kept staring at her until he walked over to her and took her from Jinmay. He looked from her to the team.

"We'll take care of her." He simply said.

"What?!" The others yelled, causing Angela to whine at the loud noise making the others feel guilty.

"But what about the war? Surely this won't be an easy thing to do." Gibson reminded him.

Chiro looked down at Angela, who stopped crying and was fixated on Chiro's hair.

"I haven't forgotten about that, but Skeleton King has been very quiet recently hasn't he? We can figure out what to do if he starts getting active again, but for right now we need to take care of her." Chiro said, smiling at her.

The others looked at each other and silently agreed. This isn't going to be easy, but Angela needed them.

"So I guess we gotta go and get baby stuff for her huh?" Sprx said with a small chuckle.

Nova scoffed and lightly pushed Sprx.

"Uh you think?" She laughed, receiving a laugh from Sprx in return.

Otto raised a hand with a smile.

"I can build her a crib! I just need a mattress." He chirped.

Jinmay put a hand on her chin.

"I know they still sell baby formula in the store at this time of night and diapers too. We have to get her toys and stuff in the morning." She said.

"Does she have to have toys?" Chiro asked.

Gibson nodded.

"Babies need them for development after all." He reminded Chiro.

"And for fun!" Otto chirped but then frowned.

"What about her leg?" He asked sadly.

The team thought before Sprx stroked Angela's head. He looked back at Otto.

"Maybe you can build her a prosthetic leg? I mean as she grows older of course." Sprx suggested.

Otto's face lit up.

"Okay I can do that! I might need the supplies but I'd be more than happy to give her a leg." Otto chirped.

Antauri wasn't too sure about this, but he knew in his gut that they had to do this. That this was right.

* * *

A few weeks into taking care of Angela and they knew something was up. She was getting bigger and her development was getting quicker. Too quick for a normal baby.

One early morning, Angela sat up and banged her toy on the metal bed before looking up at Gibson as he scanned her. She giggled as the red light scanned her body.

"You know what's causing this?" Chiro asked, worried.

Gibson looked at the scanner's results and frowned.

"While I can't find the direct cause of her fast aging, I do know that it was caused while she was in the womb." He explained.

"So that means whoever her mother was had a fast pregnancy too." Nova pointed out.

Gibson nodded. Chiro worriedly looked at Angela, who noticed him and smiled. That was concerning, why did the mother have a fast pregnancy? Who was her mother?

"Chi!" She chirped.

Chiro picked her up and held her close.

"Can it be stopped?" He asked.

Gibson smiled and nodded.

"Yes but I need to-"

The tubes made a noise as Otto came in, holding two bundles.

"Um guys? There's more." Otto said as he showed off two orange monkey babies.

The team whipped their heads as they rushed over, with Gibson holding her. Angela gasped and smiled, seeing more babies to play with. One of the babies had blue eyes while the other had red eyes. The one with red eyes also appeared to be much chubbier than his twin.

"What?! Where did they come from?!" Gibson wheezed, causing one of them to whine.

"I just found them outside! I think whoever left Angela left them here too." Otto explained as he bounced the blue eyed baby.

"Well what are we gonna do?! We can't take care of three babies!" Sprx huffed.

Antauri took the blue eyed monkey and held him close. He then noticed the name tag.

'Maurice'.

Antauri smiled a bit as the baby began to settle down.

"Hello Maurice." He said softly.

Maurice stared up at Antauri before he cooed. His brother raised his head and looked over at Maurice.

"Oh no, you're attached!" Sprx said, sulking.

Antauri looked up and frowned.

"We are not abandoning them." He said sternly.

"I know! But don't you think we should find their parents first? I mean they must be worried sick!" Sprx argued.

Antauri looked down at Maurice. He knows that, he knows that whoever had them before must miss them terribly. However if one of the parents was the person who left them here, surely that must mean that they left them here for a reason.

"Whoever set them here Sprx...they aren't coming back for their children. Not now at least." He said solemnly.

Sprx felt his heart pained and looked down.

"That person must have left them here for a reason. For us to protect and care for them. Whoever left them here must be going through some inner or outer turmoil of their own." Antauri explained.

The others also looked down, saddened by that fact.

"Therefore they can't take care of their children until that problem is taken care of." Antauri said.

They all became silent, letting what Antauri said sink in. The red eyed monkey worriedly looked around before starting to cry. Maurice whined and tried to grab for him. Antauri walked the infant over to his brother, Maurice grabbing his brother's hand.

"Aww he loves his bwubby don't ya buddy?" Otto cooed.

Maurice looked up at him and smiled.

Angela looked between the two before giggling. Gibson walked over to them and used his scanner on the twins.

"Gibson?" Otto questioned.

When Gibson was done scanning his eyes widened at the results.

"They have the exact same problem Angela has! They age fast too!" He announced, causing the others to gasp.

Angela gasped too, only over dramatically and clearly to be funny.

"Are you kidding?!" Nova exclaimed.

"What are we gonna do?!" Otto asked.

The red eyed baby began crying at the others reactions, wondering why they were freaking out so much. Otto bounced him a bit.

"It's okay, it's okay..." Otto looked at the baby's name tag.

"Kuzon, it's okay!" He assured him.

"Kuzon? That's a name I've never heard of before." Sprx chuckled.

Chiro frowned at him.

"Nows not the time for jokes Sprx!" He huffed before turning to Gibson.

"I wasn't making a joke." Sprx defended.

"Gibson we need to find a way to slow down their aging and fast. We can't have them become old people at the end of the year." He said.

Gibson nodded.

"I'll try to find a way to stop it, with helping taking care of them of course." Gibson said, smiling as Angela squealed loudly at Maurice.

Chiro nodded and looked down at the three.

"You know I'm kinda thankful that Skeleton King isn't active right now. We got time to take care of them." Sprx said.

Antauri nodded and looked down at Maurice.

"If he does we need to figure out what to do with them when that happens." Antauri said.

"We can always leave them with some of our allies. I'm sure Nikita wouldn't mind." Chiro said.

"Eh let's ask her just in case." Nova said.

Antauri nodded before looking down at Maurice again. He felt suddenly very paternal of this child, a sudden unbreakable connection forming between them. Maurice stared up at Antauri before snuggling into his chest. Antauri smiled warmly. So this is what a parent feels like.

* * *

Sprx's eyes shot up when he heard Kuzon crying again. Sprx groaned and put his hands on his face. He just put Angela down a while ago!

He got up and was about to go get her when he saw Jinmay going to get him.

"Oh no kid go back to sleep." Sprx said.

"I can't sleep remember? Don't worry I got this." She said before going in.

Sprx followed her as Jinmay picked Kuzon up and set him on the changing table.

"Okay what if you need to recharge?" He asked.

"I'm all charged up, don't worry about me. You need sleep." Jinmay protested.

Sprx sighed and watched her. Jinmay was seeming to do fine but was having a hard time getting the diaper back on. Sprx smiled and got up next to her.

"Hang on lemme help." He said, tying the diaper back together.

Jinmay smiled and sighed.

"Dang you're good." She said.

Sprx chuckled.

"Thanks this surprisingly isn't so bad." He said.

Jinmay sighed.

"Well at least you got the hang of it, I'm still having a hard time getting Maurice to sleep." She lamented, feeling a bit sad.

Sprx smiled and patted her arm before picking up Kuzon.

"Don't worry kid, sometimes it comes naturally sometimes it takes practice. You're really good at feeding him and getting Angela to sleep." He said.

Jinmay smiled at his compliment.

"You think so?" She asked before Kuzon cooed loudly.

Sprx laughed and held him up.

"I think he does." He said, causing Jinmay to giggle.

Then they heard loud cooing from behind as Maurice sat up and stared at the others curiously.

"Hey look who else is up." Sprx laughed before Jinmay went over and picked him up.

"Hey I'll get Maurice back to sleep if you get this one back to sleep." Sprx said, holding up Kuzon.

Kuzon drooled a bit before he was swapped with Maurice.

* * *

A few weeks pass and the babies were now toddlers. Seeing them walk and somewhat talk was amazing, but seeing how their personalities change was also a wonderful sight to behold.

Angela's personality turned out to be very bubbly and sweet, always talking to people and being nice to them. They also had to keep replacing her prosthetic leg every time she shot up in height. Yet this did not phase her as she kept her positive and bubbly attitude up.

Maurice meanwhile was her exact opposite. He was always quiet and reserved, either reading with Antauri or hanging around with Kuzon. He had a very strong bond with Antauri and always talked to him. He asked a lot of questions about where he came from and everything else around him. It was clear that he was becoming the smarty pants of the trio, yet not on Gibson levels of intellect.

Then you got Kuzon, who wasn't as quiet as Maurice but still liked to keep to himself at times. He also loved art and music, wanting to draw so much and listen to all types of music. He also didn't get any thinner as he grew, still supporting his chubby frame. Yet that didn't seem to bother him either as he kept up with his siblings mostly.

That was also something that the team noticed, they all considered each other siblings. They always played with each other and hung around with each other and even fought sometimes. They also can seem to speak to others outside the team just fine surprisingly, yet the team figured it had to do something with how they were born, given the fact they were aging so quickly. They seemed to be happy with just the three of them...they seemed to be.

"Can I have a sissy?" Angela one morning asked as they served breakfast.

The team looked at each other, wondering what they could say to her.

"U-Um we'll have to think about that Ange." Nova said.

Angela nodded and nibbled on her eggs.

They then heard a sound the scanners picked up, almost like crying.

The others rushed out as they saw a violet monkey crying outside the robot. She seemed to be a toddler but a bit younger than Maurice or Angela.

Angela smiled widely.

"Sissy!" She squealed as Kuzon and Maurice stared up at the screen in shock.

"Wait a minute, she's a toddler! Not a baby!" Sprx said.

A light bulb went off in Chiro's head as he slowly smiled. He quickly pointed to the screen.

"Maybe she'll know who left her here!" Chiro stated.

Gibson turned and rushed outside, the team following.

The violet monkey kept crying until the others came out of the

* * *

robot. She jumped in surprise at them and shook.

"H-hey don't be scared, we're not gonna hurt you." Chiro assured her.

"Who...who're you?" The monkey asked, shaking.

"We're the Hyperforce, we help people. What's your name?" Otto asked.

"Violet." She responded.

Gibson kneeled down to her.

"Do you know who left you here?" He asked.

Violet thought hard before biting her lip. Her shoulders began to shake.

"No...I don't know! I don't 'member anything!" She yelled before crying.

Angela squeezed past the other and ran towards her.

"Naww don't cry!" She said, hugging the smaller monkey.

"But I don't know where mommy is! I don't 'member what she looks like! Mommy!" Violet cried, tears streaming down her face.

Gibson looked towards the others. It looks like she doesn't know who left her here after all. Gibson stroked her head.

"Don't worry child, we will find her someday." He said softly.

Violet sniffled and clung to him.

Kuzon walked around them and tilted his body a bit, curious.

"No mommy either?" He asked.

Violet shook her head, looking at him with teary eyes. Kuzon smiled widely and pointed to Maurice and Angela.

"Us too!" He chirped.

Violet sniffled but leaned over to him a bit, interested by what he said. They don't have a mommy either? Well then she isn't alone anymore! She smiled and looked up at Gibson.

"Where's their mommy?" She asked.

Gibson looked to the others.

"We aren't sure. Like you they were left here with only a notecard with their names on it. But we take care of them regardless." He explained, looking back at Violet.

Violet smiled.

"So you're like a daddy then?" She asked, her eyes lighting up.

Gibson's eyes widened as Sprx laughed.

"Oh boy brain strain, she thinks you're her dad. Have fun with that." He snickered.

Violet smirked at him and crossed her arms.

"You're a daddy too you goofy." She giggled, leaning forward a bit.

Sprx whipped his head towards her with wide eyes as Gibson laughed. Smart kid.  
Violet looked towards the others and fiddled with her tail.

"So is it okay if I stay here? Till mommy comes back?" Violet asked, becoming sad again.

The team looked towards each other and talked silently amongst themselves. Maurice tried to listen in but he was too small. He let out a frustrated sigh and pouted. Violet fidgeted a bit more, waiting. The team looked towards her and Gibson nodded. Violet sighed in relief before Angela clung to her.

"Sissy!" She squealed.

"Ack hey!" Violet snapped but let her hug her anyway.

Gibson smiled as Sprx laughed.

"Okay kiddo come on in, I'll show you around." Sprx said.

"Can the blue guy come too?" Violet asked.

"It's Gibson and I guess. Just don't put her to sleep with your science stuff." Sprx joked to Gibson.

Gibson rolled his eyes as Violet ran up with them.

"I wanna learn! Sounds fun!"

"Oh no a mini Gibson."

"She's just curious Sprx!"

The three went back and forth as Nova and Otto looked on.

"Is that kid gonna be okay with them?" Nova asked, biting her fingers a bit.

Otto nodded and smiled nervously.

"I think so...as long as they don't fight too much." He said as the others went back inside.

"Sissy, sissy." Angela sung as Kuzon giggled.

Maurice looked out into the road, hoping to see someone but found nobody out this early. He sighed sadly and went inside. Someday he'll find them.

* * *

Someday my baby, someday. Thank you all for reading and I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

Okay chapter 2! Things get a little more interesting I think...why? You'll see, please enjoy!

* * *

"Okay kid we need to make a place just for them." Sprx said as Violet chased Angela.

Chiro nodded. It was getting a little cramped and if Skeleton King started attacking again they need to keep them in a safe place. Chiro turned to Otto, an idea forming.

"You think we can get something like that up and running?" He asked.

Otto nodded as he was drawing with Kuzon.

"Sure can, I can probably build something like that underground and blocked off so it won't get damaged when the robot takes off." He said.

Chiro smiled as Otto drew up a model.

"We'll need a few rooms...and a bathroom...and a kitchen...and a living room...we can just build an entire house underneath the robot!" Otto babbled as Violet listened intently.

"Can we have a pool?" Violet asked.

Otto looked up at her and smiled sadly.

"I don't think we'll have time for that, but we can always make the bathtub really big!"

Violet smiled widely and hopped in place.

"Ooh! I want that!" She chirped.

Angela ran over and sat next to Otto.

"Can I have radio p'ease?" She asked.

"I just wanna draw..." Kuzon muttered, not looking up.

Maurice looked back at them. Having a room to themselves would be nice but he wasn't sure what he wanted in his room. Otto laughed and got up.

"Well you guys write down what you want and I'll go and make the rooms." He said.

"How long will it take?" Antauri asked.

"Umm just making the rooms could take a few weeks? Furniture and stuff like that is up to you guys." Otto said.

Antauri nodded as the kids started to discuss what they wanted in their room.

Chiro kept looking through the camera footage, hoping to find some clue to who set them here. However it's as if one moment no one is there and the next thing there was either a baby or a toddler left behind. Chiro rubbed his head in frustration and sighed. What was going on? This was so weird! He then felt Jinmay place a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Chiro, we'll find them." She said comfortingly.

Chiro smiled and nodded. Hopefully. She gave him a kiss before walking back over to Angela.

They will find answers soon.

* * *

One day when a few of the allies decided to visit, they were awfully surprised by the new monkeys with them. However they became aquanted with them as Angela and Kuzon happily talked to them while Violet was hanging around Gibson, but was still pretty social as well. The only shy one seemed to be Maurice, who clung to Antauri.

"I thought you guys only had one baby monkey." Johnny Sunspot said as Angela circled him.

Sprx sighed as he sat in his bubble chair.

"We did, I guess whoever dropped her off had more." He said.

"You got big gloves." Angela commented, about to touch them when Johnny put his hand up.

Angela pouted, unsure why she wasn't allowed to touch them. Suupa worriedly looked at Angela before looking back at Gibson. Gibson noticed his worried stare.

"They age fast. We aren't sure what's causing it but I'm working on a treatment to stop it." He explained before Violet giggled.

"You're busy." She teased, holding up her puzzle.

Gibson rolled his eyes but smiled.

"I suppose I am." He sighed.

Violet looked up at Suupa and patted the seat next to her.

"C'mon froggy guy, play with us! Please!" She begged with pleading eyes.

Suupa looked over to his leader, Kero, who nodded. He then sat down and worked on the puzzle with them.

Kero looked over to Antauri and Maurice.

"We tried to lookout for someone leaving babies at your robot but nothing." He said.

Maurice's posture drooped as Antauri narrowed his eyes. Has the person stopped their baby leaving? Or were they waiting to give them another?

"Did you see anyone suspicious?" He asked.

Kero shook his head. When they heard of this mystery person dropping off baby monkeys, they quickly got into gear and kept an eye out for anything suspicious. Unfortunately their search was turning up nothing so far, which was frustrating yet it was still something. The city has been boringly quiet, the others have been getting a little antsy. Yet to him and a few of his fellow allies like Quint and Oliana were enjoying what relaxation time they had. Who knows when Skeleton King will start back up in fighting them.

"We can always keep looking if you want." He offered.

Antauri shook his head.

"Oh no we can have one of us keep an eye out just in case." He said before Maurice was dragged off by Kuzon.

Kuzon dragged him over to Nikita as Angela was talking to her about dolls and cupcakes. Kero tilted his body, something bothering him.

"So is she okay with looking after them if something happens?" He asked for clarification.

Antauri nodded.

"She says she doesn't mind, though if there will be any more children coming along she says it'll be a lot of work." He said before smiling.

Kero sighed but also smiled.

"Yeah no kidding, if I had to take care of that many kids I'd be exhausted too." Kero chortled.

Antauri chuckled and nodded. The black frog, Centaur, overheard their conversation and walked over.

"Do you have any idea who is sending these infants?" He asked.

Antauri looked down and burrowed his eyebrows.

"We are not sure, yet I sense it is someone familiar. The name of who it could be escapes me." He told him, eyes clouded with frustration and suspicion.

Centaur and Kero looked at each other, wondering who it could be. The two heard loud whining as Nova dragged Otto from the tube. Otto looked exhausted as he had dark circles under his eyes and sweat beading his forehead.

"You need a break! You can't keep working yourself to death down there!" She barked.

"But I'm almost done with Violet's room!" Otto whined before being set into his bubble chair.

"Finish it later, I'll get you some water." Nova said before going into the kitchen.

Otto let out one more whine before sitting back. Kuzon ran over to him, worried.

"You okay 'tto?" He asked, tilting his head.

Otto raised his thumb up before dropping it, staring at the ceiling.

"Just tired bud." He replied.

"Nap time for 'tto?" Kuzon questioned, trying to sound like the grown ups when they ask him that.

Otto quickly got back up.

"I'm almost done with Violet's room! I can't take a nap yet!" Otto wheezed before getting a head rush.

"Take nap!" Kuzon scolded, stomping his foot.

Kero looked at Centaur and whispered something to him. Centaur went over to Otto.

"If you want, I can ask Patton to assist you." He offered, thinking of his own green machanic.

Otto raised his head and thought about it. He was awfully tired from just building the base alone, having some help would be nice.

"Okay." Otto whispered before Nova came back to give him some water.

"Your dress pretty." Angela cooed, patting Nikita's dress.

Nikita smiled warmly as she patted her head.

"Aww what sweet children." She said, looking at Jinmay.

Jinmay giggled.

"Well we always tell them to be nice to others and that a compliment goes a long way." She said.

Maurice tapped the cat woman's arm and leaned to Nikita.

"I don't know what 'a long way' means." He whispered.

"Sounds nice though!" Angela piped up before grabbing one of her dolls and sat next to Nikita.

Nikita blinked but shrugged it off. Seems the Hyperforce was doing better than they thought.

* * *

After a week the underground base was almost done, they just had to clean up a few more things. They also had a especially chaotic time finding/building the furniture the kids wanted. It was costly, but they knew that it was worth it. Otto also built an extra room or two just in case any more babies would pop up.

Antauri early one morning was about to go on a walk. He doesn't usually get to do such things anymore and thought it would be a nice change of pace. He opened the door to the foot of the robot, took one step out and was greeted by another bundle with a baby monkey. The light green furred baby seemed to be asleep as they yawned and snuggled into the blankets. Antauri stepped back and flinched. He then closely looked at the infant, who looked to be about a year old given their size. quickly looked around, hoping to see whoever dropped this little one off. As usual he saw no one. He picked up the bundle and took him inside.

When picking up the baby however, it seemed to wake the monkey up as they opened their purple eyes. When they saw Antauri carrying him, they shrieked and tried to scratch him. Antauri flinched back and held the baby out as they furiously tried to scratch him.

"Hey settle down you're alright!" Antauri assured the angry child.

The baby growled before looking around, confused. Antauri held them close and stroked his head. Well this was surely an interesting child, usually they'd cry but this one was just angry!

"You're alright, you're safe here." He said softly.

The baby frowned before their growls silenced. Antauri sighed as he took them up to the command center. So much for his walk.

"Roland?! The kid's name is Roland?!" Sprx laughed, falling to the floor.

Roland growled before hissing at Sprx, not pleased that he found his name hilarious.

"Sprx don't laugh at him, you'll only make him angry." Antauri scolded, trying to soothe the child.

Sprx giggled.

"S-sorry it's just the poor kid is gonna have to deal with so much for having the name Roland." He breathed, having the giggles.

Roland growled and clung to Antauri.

Angela giggled and walked up to him.

"He cute." Angela said.

Roland curiously stared at Angela before trying to grab at her. Maurice tilted his head at his behavior before he took his hand.

"Nice to meet you." He said softly.

Roland gave him a really weird look, causing Violet to laugh. Gibson took Roland from Antauri and set him in a playpen. He scanned the baby as Roland frowned and tried to grab for the scanner.

"He had the same fast aging issue as the others, which means I'll have to up the amount of treatment." Gibson said as Violet bounded over to him.

"Can I help?" She asked.

Gibson smiled and patted her head.

"Maybe another day, you and Sprx have quite the day together." He said.

Violet's eyes lit up.

"Oh yeah!" She said before running over to Sprx.

Nova watched her go before looking at Otto.

"You think we got enough supplies for this little guy?" She asked.

Otto nodded and grinned.

"Of course we do, we just give him one of the kids old cribs. We got plenty of diapers, toys, and baby food to last them for at least a few weeks!" He said confidently.

Nova smiled and looked at Roland as she picked him up.

"Well that's good. That also means we can get you ready for potty training soon, right tiny?" She asked as she placed him in a playpen.

Roland stared at her before nodding. Roland then noticed a fuzzy toy and grabbed it. Chiro sighed, if they get anymore kids they may just drop from exhaustion. His attention was then pulled back when Roland threw the fuzzy toy at him. Roland babbled and raised his arms.

And from the looks of it, it seems this one will be very difficult to deal with.

* * *

Antauri stared down at the light orange infant as it slept silently. Violet peeked over Antauri's head and squeaked loudly in happiness. Antauri sighed and picked up the infant. This was the sixth baby they had to take in in over a few weeks and they still had no idea who keeps sending them! This was getting ridiculous! Antauri went up to the command center as Violet tried to grab for the small infant.

"Team, there's another." He said, as if the situation has turned into something of finding mail.

Nova whipped her head up as Angela ran over to Antauri. Which was a bit hard due to her new prosthetic leg.

"Another one?! Where do they keep coming from?" She asked.

"I see baby, 'Tauri? I see?" Angela asked.

Antauri sighed as Violet hopped down and went over to Kuzon, who was drawing with Otto. The team gathered around to look at their newest baby.

"I'm not sure but if this keeps up there will be too many of them for us to take care of." He sighed.

Sprx rolled his eyes as Angela patted the baby's cheek.

"C'mon Antauri, these kids age fast. They'll probably be adults before the year's over." He joked.

"That's not funny Sprx! We still need to find a way to stop it. Gibson how is the treatment going?" Chiro asked.

Gibson smiled.

"Well, I can find a way stop the aging process in about...a few months?"

Nova looked down at Angela, who didn't know what the heck Gibson was talking about as usual. They'll be so much older...would that really be okay? Who is sending all of these babies to them and why? There were so many questions and no one knew anything! Chiro sighed, enough was enough. Otto took the baby and smiled as they woke up.

"Hey lil guy, did you just wake u-" He began to ask when they started wailing.

"Oh! Boy! This one has a set of lungs!" Otto wheezed as Sprx took the crying monkey.

"C'mon kiddo, you're okay." He shushed.

Angela whimpered as Roland stomped over.

"Loud!" He huffed.

"It's a baby Roland, they tend to cry loudly." Jinmay said to him.

Roland crossed his arms.

"Loud." He repeated, quieter this time.

Chiro turned to Antauri.

"We need to find out who is sending these babies and fast. if this person is sending so many babies to us, there may be an underlying problem that may endanger them." He said, causing Roland to flinch.

"Danger?" He asked.

Everyone agreed, it was time for this to stop.

"Gibson do you know the rate and time of children being put here?" Antauri asked.

Gibson took out his scanner.

"Ermm at least a few months in between, and around midnight to seven in the morning." He answered.

"Then in the next few months we need to look at the cameras around that time and look for the person dropping the babies monkeys. We'll ask for the citizens that are up that late and ask if they've seen anything." Antauri said.

Everyone agreed. Sprx held up the baby, who was still fussing.

"And we need to welcome this new member too. With some food first."

Otto smiled and went into the kitchen for a bottle. They had so many bottles and baby formulas at this point that they'd be ready if another kid would come along. After feeding the small infant, they soon figured out that the new baby was another girl, which excited Angela and Violet greatly, having another sister to play with. Maurice and Kuzon were okay with it, while Roland just pouted the whole way through.

"So...what are we gonna name this one?" Sprx asked as the baby slept in his arms.

The team thought on it as Angela bounced a bit, thinking.

"Penny!" She chirped.

Chiro turned to her.

"Penny?" He asked, causing Angela to nod.

"It pretty." She chirped, causing Roland to think.

"Rausdauer." He smiled, seeming to pronounce the name quite well.

Angela glared at him.

"No! Penny!"

"Rausdauer!" Roland argued.

Gibson groaned, not this again! He broke between the two before they got into another argument.

"Look! How about we make Rausdauer her nickname and Penny her regular name?"

Roland frowned.

"It's like another name." Nova explained.

Roland blinked and looked off to the side.

"Oh." He said before walking away, now wanting to play with blocks. Angela smirked and crossed her arms, thinking she'd won. Violet looked up at Penny and tried to reach for her but Gibson picked her up.

"Alright you, time for a nap." He said, causing her to whine.

"Nooooo!"

"It nap time!" Kuzon cheered before grabbing his art supplies.

"Kuzon it's only-!" Chiro began before the chubbier monkey rushed off to bed.

"That boy and his love for sleep is so hilarious." Sprx laughed as Penny yawned.

Chiro sighed, that was true.

* * *

The next few months did pass as the kids shot up in age, now aging from twelve to four years old. Roland's temper and overall brash nature stuck with him, getting mad over the smallest of things and tending to be very protective of those closest to him. Angela's demeanor changed from hyper and bubbly to sweet and mature. Kuzon and Maurice both were the second oldest and were very different in their interests and appearances. Kuzon was still chubby and a huge lover of art and music while Maurice was still more into reading and spending time with Antauri, yet their personalities were still on the same wavelength of being quiet and reserved. Violet spent a lot of time with Gibson and it showed, with her experimenting and reading every book that he had. Though she did have a tendency to be a little bit overly into her experiments and block out everything. That and she picked up Sprx's trickster ways and played pranks on people.

As for their new sister Penny? She gave everyone cavities from how sweet she was as she became very helpful, mature for her age, and kind. Though that kindness comes with some naivety.

"Hi! I'm Penny!" She greeted a random citizen, walking over to him.

Nova quickly took her back with them as everyone went inside for the night.

"Penny what have we talked about?"

Penny tilted her head.

"Look both ways before crossin' a street?"

Nova sighed.

"No, don't talk to strangers. You don't know who's nice or not yet."

Penny looked back at the citizen.

"He seems nice." She said, still smiling.

Nova sighed, knowing she'd have to have this conversation with her for the tenth time in a row. Roland frowned and crossed his arms.

"You don't know that! What if he's a weirdo or one of those bad guys?" He asked.

Penny shrugged.

"Maybe he can be nice later!" She suggested.

Roland sighed and closed his eyes. He heard a lot about the villians the team faced up against and how a few of them berayed them. Though that was only when he couldn't sleep and he overheard the team talking with the allies. Roland knew there was a war going on, and that scared him to think what could happen to the team or his brothers and sisters.

"Not everyone can become nice." He said.

"Like Mandarin." Sprx silently huffed before getting the attention of Maurice.

"Mandarin? Who's that?" He asked, causing everyone to freeze.

"Yeah what kind of a name is Mandarin?" Roland giggled.

"Kinda like what kind of a name is Roland?" Violet teased.

"Hey my name is named after a hero and it's fancy!" Roland snapped, pointing at her before being calmed down by Nova.

Angela looked back at the Hyperforce, curious. The team looked at each other, unsure if they should tell them about one of their greatest enemies. Antauri gave them a nod, indicating that the kids deserve the right to at least know about him.

"Mandarin was...one of us...before Chiro and I came along." Jinmay started.

The children looked at each other, surprised.

"He used to be our leader but he wanted to take over Shuggazoom." Antauri said.

"Why?" Kuzon asked.

"He thought he was above being a hero, self conceited jerk." Nova growled before seeing Penny step back and whimper, worried.

"Sorry Pen." She said softly before pulling her in a side hug.

"He also had a lot of darkness in his soul, something we tried to get rid of but we were unable to." Antauri continued.

"Was he nice?" Penny asked.

Otto smiled.

"Yeah! Before he started to go bad he was very kind but tried to cover that up." He said.

Penny smiled a bit, maybe if they find this Mandarin guy he can be nice again!

Kuzon looked to the ground.

"That's still sad...if he was that kind but became evil…" He muttered.

Sprx patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, kid. Besides we have Chiro, Jinmay, and you guys. That's all we need really." He said, causing the dark orange monkey to smile.

"Yeah.."

Maurice blinked and placed a hand on his chin, very interested in the history of what he considered family. He turned towards Antauri.

"Can you tell me more about him? He seems very interesting." He said.

"Tomorrow, it's time for dinner and then bed. You got Power Primate lessons in the morning." Chiro reminded them.

All of the kids, minus Kuzon and Maurice, groaned. Getting up so early was such a drag!

"Yes! Sleep!" He cheered as he rushed inside.

Maurice sighed as he held the bridge of his snout.

"Sleep isn't that great Kuzon." He sighed.

Everyone began to pile in before Antauri looked back at Roland, who was still standing outside. He sighed, he can't keep trying to play outside like this. However, he noticed that Roland was deep in thought. He puffed one side of his cheek out and tapped his foot.

"Mandarin...that name is so dumb but why do I know it?" He mumbled before thinking hard.

Which soon turned into an explosion of yelling as he rushed inside, stressed that he can't place where he knows this name. Antauri blinked before shutting the doors.

Later that night after everyone went to bed, Otto stayed up to watch the cameras. Chiro peeked in on him.

"Anything yet?" He asked.

Otto yawned.

"Nada, probably another dud night." He said.

Chiro patted his head. It's been a few months, but so far they haven't found anything on the person leaving the baby monkeys behind. The citizens said they haven't found anything out of the ordinary at night, so whoever was leaving them behind was swift. Chiro patted Otto's shoulder.

"In that case, don't worry if you go to bed early. They might not even come tonight."

Otto smiled, that's true. Chiro went to his transportation tube and went down for the night. Otto kept watching the foot of the robot until he decided to watch some videos to pass the time. He laughed as a dog was scared off by a small puppy and clicked on a cat playing in a box. A baby's cry soon interrupted his video watching, causing Otto to switch over to the cameras.

"Please quiet down, you'll wake them up." A gruff voice said softly.

Otto's eyes widened when he saw a huge figure set down a small bundle of something at the doorstep. The small bundle cried harder.

"I don't want to do this either, but you'll be safer with them than...than with me." The figure choked before backing up.

Otto quickly got up before darting towards his tube. Oh no he was not going to lose this chance! Not this time!

* * *

The small grey monkey cried hard as the figure backed up. It broke their heart to do this as they had to hear the cries of each baby they left. However, if it was going to stop Skeleton King they will do whatever it takes to make sure he will be stopped. They turned and began to walk off when a chain wrapped around their large waist and arms. The figure fell to their knees and looked back.

"Oh no you don't! You're not gonna run away again!" Otto huffed as he held up the baby with one arm as he used heavy chains to tie the figure up.

The figure quickly began to panic as they began to struggle to get out. Otto went up to him and saw some light reflect the figure, showing skin and something purple.

Otto turned towards the lamps and turned them on with his tail.

"Alright you time to-!" Otto began but saw that the figure was ungodly familiar and to him, very dangerous.

The original Mandarin shook as Otto stared at him.

"Let go of me." He said above a whisper.

Otto's eyes were stuck on him as the baby whimpered. Wait, what?! What was he doing here? Didn't Skeleton King replace him?! Did he escape? Otto wasn't sure but it was so shocking to see this version of Mandarin after so long. Mandarin also looked terrible, he had dark spots under his eyes, was paler, and his belly was slightly bloated and covered in scars.

"What...what are you doing?!" He asked.

Mandarin continued to struggle, sweat beading down from his forehead as his breathing labored.

"Let go! If he finds out that I've escaped-!" He begged.

"Wait...were you the one dropping off all of these babies?" Otto questioned.

His question was answered when he saw the fear in his eyes.

"Just let me go! If he realizes I am gone everything will- he-!" Mandarin stammered.

Otto gripped the chains harder. That didn't sound good.

"Who? Who will realize you're gone? Is it Skeleton King?" He asked.

"Otto please just take him-!"

Roland then stomped out of the robot, clearly cranky.

"Why is everyone yelling at midnight?!" He demanded before seeing Mandarin.

Mandarin went cold as he saw Roland, his stomach twisting. All of the memories of everything that happened to him suddenly rushing back. Roland cocked his head back a bit in surprise at this huge creature.

"What is that?" He asked.

Otto looked at Mandarin before looking at Roland.

"Wake the team up and get them down here as quickly as you can!" He said to him, causing Mandarin to struggle more.

Roland blinked.

"Does that mean I get to use pots and pans to wake them up?" He asked.

Otto smiled and nodded.

"Yes!" Roland cheered, throwing his arms in the air.

"Yep! Now hurry!" He said as Roland ran back inside the robot.

Mandarin watched as he went, feeling sick. He then turned towards the small grey monkey, who sniffled and whimpered.

"Don't worry tiny, you're okay." Otto comforted, bouncing the baby a bit.

Mandarin gulped, knowing that they wouldn't.

* * *

Chapter 2 and shit is already happening! We found our baby leaving culprit but Mandy has a lot of explaining to do! But that will be in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Okay so I've been out of posting chapters regularly for so long that I forgot about posting twice a week and almost went with posting every two days...that's too much. So here's the 3rd chapter! This time things get a bit messed up...a bit...I think? Any who please enjoy!

* * *

Mandarin sat in the command center as Roland tried to shine a flashlight on him. Keyword here being tried as this new stranger was huge.

"Where were you on the Wednesday of March the thirty second?" Roland demanded.

Chiro sighed.

"Roland please go to bed." He said as his siblings waited, no doubt tired.

Roland turned to him.

"But-!"

"Roland."

Roland sighed before walking away, leaving the team with Mandarin. Chiro turned to him, glaring.

"Okay, talk. Why did you leave those kids at our doorstep?" He asked.

Mandarin looked down a bit. He really didn't want to talk about it...he had a plan and it was ruined! Now what was he going to do? What were they going to do? He sat there for a moment, not saying anything.

"Mandarin." Antauri said.

"I..." Mandarin started to say but then stopped.

"Is Skeleton King involved?" Nova asked, causing Mandarin to flinch at his name.

Knowing that he wouldn't get out of this, he nodded briefly.

"Yes."

Most of the others sighed, they were getting somewhere.

"Did he create them and you left them here?" Gibson asked.

Mandarin felt sick again and touched his stomach.

"No...he..." Mandarin felt his breath caught in his throat before taking his time to speak properly.

Otto gulped, that didn't sound good. Whatever it was, it was surely causing Mandarin distress.

"He...he used me." Mandarin finally said.

Sprx frowned a bit.

"Used you? What does that mean?" He asked.

Mandarin found it hard to speak again as he did not want to remember the details. He felt his hands shake before clenching them.

"It means that...when he turned me into this he...Veran just talk!" He scolded himself.

The team jumped when he did this and looked at each other. What did Skeleton King do that made Mandarin act like this? Mandarin shuddered.

"Basically he...placed an artificial womb inside me." He admitted, the words tumbling over each other.

A chill went up everyone's spines as confusion and shock was clear on everyone's faces.

"H-how?" Otto asked, feeling as if his stomach was turning to ice.

"While recreating me, he decided to place one in to create an entire army. An entire army." Mandarin said, repeating the last part.

Antauri looked down at the baby monkey, who was sleeping soundlessly. He couldn't imagine that Mandarin was pregnant and gave birth to him. He couldn't even imagine this little guy growing up to be apart of Skeleton king's army, much less his siblings. The fact that this was happening at all was just so surreal and horrifying.

"So...how long has this been going on?" Chiro asked, shock almost making it hard to speak.

Mandarin closed his eyes, clearly in a lot of emotional turmoil.

"A while, at least for you. Time in the place that I was held in was quicker in order to...to create more soldiers." He shuddered.

Nova placed her hand on her forehead, finding it so hard to take all of this in at once. Sprx gulped as he could only stare at the ground.  
Otto quickly got up, about ready to go over to Mandarin to comfort him. He didn't care that he may still be evil, he needed this. Otto went over to him and wrapped his arms around his waist. This situation was becoming more and more and more messed up each and every minute.

"So...why are you sending the kids to us?" Sprx asked, looking up and having a feeling on why he's doing it.

Mandarin clutched his hands together as Otto looked up at him. He was silent for a second before shakily sighing, trying to hold everything together in front of the others. Mandarin mentally kicked himself before speaking again.

"I...I guess I just couldn't take the idea of using children that...that comes from you to be forced to be apart of an army." He began.

Oh they could imagine, especially with how close they've grown attached to the children.

"So I found a way here to bring some of the children I would have...just so that some of them wouldn't have to go through that and maybe when they learn of this, they'll want it to stop."

Otto kept looking up at Mandarin, touched. He wanted to protect them. That was just so awfully sweet of him. Antauri couldn't help but understand his motives, but felt that he should have come to them first. However, that may not have bode over well, who knows what could have kept Mandarin hidden for so long was down there. Things started to become clearer as they finally had some of their questions answered, however that was replaced with a growing rage. Chiro gritted his teeth as he thought of Skeleton King.

"So not only is he trying to make an army out of monkeys, but he used one of his own servants, messed with their biology, and forced him to get pregnant and give birth to them." He angrily thought as Otto tried to climb Mandarin to comfort him.

As much as most of them hated Mandarin, they all can agree that he didn't deserve this. No one does. Mandarin quickly stood up, now realizing he has been gone for too long. Otto fell off him and landed on his rear.

"I need to go back, he'll realize I'm gone and who knows what he'll do to me." He said as he began to walk off.

Chiro rushed in front of the large transportation tube.

"Oh no you don't! That freak will not be having you as his baby machine!" He snapped.

Mandarin's eyes widened in fear as he stepped back.

"But if I don't go back he'll try to-"

"Then we'll kick his can!" Nova said, pounding her fist into her hand.

Gibson's eyes widened as Otto agreed.

"Nova are you sure? I mean we may need to think this over a bit-" He began before Nova turned to him.

"We can't send him back there! You'll know what Skeleton King will keep doing to him and those poor kids." she said as Mandarin froze up at the thought.

Otto hugged his knees.

"Yeah! There's no way we're leaving him!"

"What if he's still evil? Did you think of that?" Sprx asked, crossing his arms.

"He wouldn't be-!" Otto began but before they could continue arguing Chiro intervened.

"Team!" Chiro said loudly, but not loud enough so it would wake the baby up.

Everyone turned to him as Chiro sighed.

"Everyone, come over here and let's discuss this." He said motioning the others to huddle.

Mandarin was about to follow when Chiro held up a hand. He then grabbed a small carrier and placed the baby inside it and set it on the bubble chair next to him.

"Just wait here." He said before going off with the others.

Mandarin stood for a minute before sitting next to the bubble chair. He peered into the carrier as the baby monkey now started to wake up. He glanced over at his...technically his mother as Mandarin flinched a bit. Mandarin gently placed a finger on the infant's cheek as the monkey leaned into the touch.

"I believe we need to seriously think about our options." Antauri advised.

"There's only one option Antauri, keep Mandarin here and away from Skeleton King." Nova declared, before she paused and her eyes widened at what she just said.

"Yeah, but where else could we put Mandarin that won't, you know, backfire horribly?" Sprx asked.

"We could use the hidden fort-" Gibson began before Sprx groaned.

"Skeleton King already got through that! Remember? We had to drill a hole through there and get everyone out before the Formless got to them."

"We could make it stronger! Besides we don't know if we could trust him at this moment. I mean didn't Skeleton King want to destroy life? Not create new life?" Gibson pointed out.

"He could have them become undead at some point. Which is another reason why we need to stop this!" Nova argued.

"I just find it a bit odd that we are all so trusting of him now, after everything he has done to us we now all of a sudden-"

Otto quickly turned Gibson to Mandarin, who was still interacting with the baby.

"Gibson, does that look like he's putting on some act? Just planning this so he can attack us and take the kids?"

Gibson blinked as he studied Mandarin a bit. There was something off about his demeanor, almost as if the strong parts of his personality were completely stomped on. Every time they mention Skeleton King, he flinches and looks scared. Just how badly did Skeleton King treat him?

Nova twiddled her fingers for a second before crossing her arms. She frowned as she looked back at Mandarin.

"I think he should stay too, even if I still kind of hate him. Just so that bonehead won't keep knocking him up." She grumbled.

Jinmay nodded slightly, not really trusting Mandarin but not really backing down to the idea of him staying here.

"Let's just be sure that we're doing the right thing...he did take my head off." She mumbled, rubbing her neck.

Antauri bit his lip, on the fence about it too. It wasn't like he thought Mandarin was still evil, it was clear to him that he wasn't, it was just they don't know what will happen if they do keep him here. Skeleton King or his minions would no doubt try to go find him and bring him back, and what would the children think when they find out about this? Antauri sighed a bit and looked up at Chiro.

"The decision does lie with you Chiro." He said.

Chiro looked down at him before looking at Mandarin. The baby cooed as he tried to grab for Mandarin's finger. The rage towards Skeleton King was still prevalent, he didn't think he would go this far but then again this guy keeps surprising them.

"Let him stay and have Skeleton King as far away from him as possible." He said.

Gibson and Sprx flinched but looked back at Mandarin. They weren't too sure about this but...

"Where is he gonna stay?" Nova asked.

"There's a vacant room for temporary larger objects underground that he can reside in for the time being. I'm sure the other children wouldn't mind." Antauri said.

"Uh yeah make sure about that because Roland might have a fit." Chiro said.

"I'll talk to them about it. Should we tell them that technically Mandarin's their...their mother?" Jinmay asked, feeling a bit weird saying that.

The team thought this over. Who knows how they'll react if they find out about that. They knew that they were placed here, but they have no idea who their parents were.

"As of right now, no. We'll tell them when the time is right, but right now may be a bit too early." Chiro decided and everyone agreed to that.

Otto raised a hand.

"I can get a bed set up for him, and I can get him some pillows." He offered.

"That would be great." Chiro said before they heard some noises.

They turned to see Mandarin holding a hand over his mouth and his face turning slightly green. The team looked for the nearest trash can and quickly gave it to him, which he promptly threw up in. The infant coiled in disgust before whining. Mandarin stopped after a minute and clutched it.

"Jeez, all of that stuff Skeleton King did to you really got to you didn't it?" Sprx asked.

Mandarin froze before nodding slightly.

"I-I suppose it did." He said before Chiro frowned.

"Mandarin, are you sure it's because of that?" He asked, seeing Mandarin's body tense up even more.

Antauri searched Mandarin's face before his body tensed up as well.

"Mandarin...are you pregnant again?" He asked.

Mandarin didn't respond, he just kept looking down. Antauri walked closer to him.

"Are...you...pregnant?" He asked, completely serious.

Mandarin didn't answer but clenched the trash can even closer to him.

"...I just want it to stop." He finally mumbled almost not sounding like himself.

The team turned to each other they got their answer, but at the same time they felt a sense of dread and maybe even a bit of pity. Otto went over to him and wrapped himself around his waist, comforting him.

"Don't worry, it'll stop this time." He said softly.

Mandarin's hands shook a bit but sighed. The baby monkey started to whine, sensing the mood. Chiro went over to him and picked him up.

"And don't worry about Skeleton King, we'll make sure he doesn't come anywhere near you or the children." Chiro said.

Mandarin stared at him a bit before looking down slightly, almost looking relieved.

"I...thank you." He said before a new concern was placed in his mind.

"But wait, what about..." He motioned towards the baby monkey.

Sprx waved his hand and rolled his eyes.

"Mandarin we've been taking care of these kids for a while now. We can handle a few more." He said.

"Besides it's clear that you're emotionally traumatized by it and you need time to heal." Antauri pointed out.

Mandarin bit his lip, that was true.

"But I would feel bad if you had to take care of so many..."

Otto climbed up on him and placed his cheek against his.

"Don't worry about it. You need to take care of yourself first." He huffed before smiling.

Mandarin stared at him before looking downcast again. He didn't feel like arguing anymore and just wanted this to end.

"So! First things first, a bed." Otto chirped.

* * *

The kids were, to say the least, confused. The guy the team caught last night being suspicious was still here? Why?

Maurice turned to Jinmay.

"Why is he still here? Shouldn't he be in jail? You know for trespassing?" He asked.

Jinmay froze up a bit.

"Ahh...about that, he's staying here with us." She said.

Penny tilted her head.

"Why?" She asked.

Jinmay quickly thought about how to make sure they don't figure anything out.

"He's...gone through some terrible things and we're going to help him."

The older kids looked at each other, eyebrows furrowed with concern while Penny just rocked back and forth on her heels. She didn't really understand too much, but if the team was going to help him then great!

"What kind of terrible things?" Angela asked slowly.

Jinmay leaned down to them and gave them a sad smile.

"I'll explain that when the time's right. Right now isn't a good time to talk about what happened to him." She said softly.

Penny nodded before peeking at the room Mandarin resided in.

"What's his name? He's like a giant shrimp." She said, totally straightfaced.

Violet began to giggle but was elbowed by Maurice. Jinmay sighed, whoo boy.

"Remember yesterday about how we talked about Mandarin? Well..." She said as she saw Mandarin peek out before darting back in.

"That's him."

Roland stepped back a bit, eyes wide and his face twisted in confusion and shock.

"That guy's Mandarin?! Him?!" He asked.

Kuzon scratched his head.

"But wait...wouldn't be look like one of the monkeys? Why does he look like that?" Kuzon asked.

Angela looked over at Mandarin's room and placed a hand on her chest. She paused before looking up at Jinmay and pursed her lips.

"Is that one of the things that happened to him?" She asked, feeling sorry for this new stranger.

Jinmay slowly nodded, causing the small monkey to dip her head.

"That's awful..."

Violet shrugged.

"He looks cool to me. Like a giant hulk science experiment." She said smiling and ignoring unknown feeling of nostalgia

Penny nodded.

"He looks cuddly." She commented.

"Penny his arms would crush you!" Roland laughed, also ignoring the nostalgic part of his feelings.

Jinmay held back a laugh and motioned towards the tube leading up to the robot.

"Okay you six, time for breakfast. After that you can see the new baby." She said as everyone ran out of the room, having a mix reactions of joy towards the new sibling.

Mandarin waited until he was certain they left as he peeked his head out. He began to leave it and maybe find some place where he could be most comfortable at. Just being in that room began to remind him of the labs he once resided in. Jinmay began to leave when she heard heavy footsteps. She looked back at Mandarin.

"Oh! Gibson wants to talk to you later about the..." She motioned towards Mandarin's stomach.

Mandarin froze before nodding slightly. That will have to come at a later time, right now he needed to find a place to settle his growing uncomfortable and panicked feelings. He felt as if his heart would burst out of his chest any second if he doesn't leave soon. After Jinmay and him left, he went down to the deep parts of the robot, knowing one specific place to go to.

* * *

"Awww what's his name?" Angela gushed as the grey monkey babbled loudly.

They figured out that the baby was around three months old, given that he would keep babbling for what seemed to be hours and smiled whenever Otto was near.

"We haven't decided yet." Antauri said as Gibson looked around for Mandarin.

"Roland don't name him anything weird." Maurice said, eyeing his brother.

Roland glared at him and raised his arms, offended.

"I wasn't even going to say anything!" He snapped.

"I like Schmurpe!" Penny chirped.

Sprx snickered and sat in a more comfortable position.

"As cute as that sounds, we need an actual name for him." Sprx said to her, patting her head.

"But it is a real name!" Penny argued.

"On another planet maybe." Violet muttered.

Penny pouted before realizing that the Mandarin guy wasn't here. Where was he? She had so many things to ask him about! Roland noticed something about his new sibling and leaned in, narrowing his eyes.

"What's with his eye?" Roland asked, seeing the baby monkey's slightly colorless left eye.

Nova looked at him before her heart pained.

"I think he's blind in that eye." She said softly.

Angela bit her lip before looking down at him again. The poor thing. The grey monkey blinked and cooed loudly. Apparently his partial blindness didn't even phase him. Gibson sighed, frustrated before going over to Chiro.

"Chiro do you know where Mandarin is? I need to speak to him." Gibson said.

Chiro looked around the room.

"Uhh I think he's still in his room. I haven't really seen him since last night."

Gibson nodded before about to go down. Otto then turned to the screen as the robot's security alerted them.

"Uhh guys I don't think he's down there." He said as everyone looked at the screen.

Mandarin was behind the seat of the Torso tank, looking downcast. Despite his huge size, he seemed to fit in there okay if a tad snug.

"How did he get in there?!" Chiro asked, rushing towards the control panel.

"I assume he entered through one of the panels placed in the back." Gibson suggested, eyebrow raised.

"But what's he doing?" Nova asked suspiciously.

The kids went up behind them and looked at the screen. Mandarin's expression was completely mixed of sadness and mental exhaustion as he just stared at the wall. He let out a small sigh and sat up straight, staring at nothing.

"I don't know...he looks so depressed." Otto muttered, holding his tail.

Penny tilted her head when she heard that. Why was he so sad? She turned towards the kitchen and realized, if he was so sad then she was going to help! Penny rushed towards the kitchen and grabbed the leftovers and put them in a takeout box and placed it in a bag. She then went over to the orange tube.

Otto saw her zoom out of the kitchen.

"Penny?" He asked, causing the others to turn.

Penny held a thumbs up and winked, well tried to.

"I got this." She assured them before going up the tube.

"Penny wait! That...may not be the best idea." Chiro cautioned, knowing she's already gone.

The grey monkey looked up at him, as if confused.

* * *

Mandarin stared at the wall, trying to gather his thoughts correctly as the Torso tank was comforting to him. Somehow.

His comfort levels then dropped when he heard the tube behind him blast down air and a small monkey hopped onto the seat. She squealed when the seat belts held her against the seat but after a moment of struggling she got out of it. Mandarin jumped and turned around, backing away somewhat. Penny popped her head up and smiled.

"I got you yummy tummy breakfast!" She sang, holding up the box.

Mandarin shook, fear making it so he wouldn't move. The few connections to Skeleton King he had left, and she held up a box of food for him. He didn't detest his children, far from it, it's just those terrible memories of the labs and what happened to the other babies he gave birth to was almost taunting him. That and he knows what may happen if they find out about their true past. Penny awkwardly eyed the room for a second before holding out the box to him.

"Where d'ya want it?" She asked.

Mandarin couldn't speak at first.

"I-there." He briefly said, pointing at the chair.

Penny looked down and nodded.

"Okay!" She chirped.

Mandarin, thinking that she'll leave, turned back around and sighed. He then felt the small monkey leaning on him, touching his ponytail.

"Your hair is long." She whispered in awe before she felt him back away quickly.

She saw the fear in his eyes and got confused again. Why was he so scared of her? She wasn't hurting him! Okay maybe she overstepped those boundaries that Nova talked about, but she didn't mean anything mean by it. Penny was about to go over the seat and talk to him when she heard a voice coming from the screen behind her.

"Penny!" Chiro called for her.

Penny looked up at the screen and smiled.

" 'Kay! Bye!" She waved at Mandarin before going back up.

Mandarin waited for a few seconds to let the anxiety die down. He sighed in relief and placed a hand on his chest. He didn't want to be scared of them, he hated that he feared his own children. Mandarin then looked into the box that Penny left behind for him. He opened the box to reveal a cheese omelette and some strawberries. Mandarin knew he would have to eat a bit of them before his morning sickness would act up again, so he nibbled a bit on the egg and cheese combination. He paused and almost felt himself smile.

It was actually not that bad.

* * *

Awww Penny is too sweet and good for this world! Anyway to alleviate the constant angst and drama I will try my best to work and finish one of my much shorter fics. It's a comedy and it has High school musical in it. It will be fun. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey so these chapters will indeed be longer but the story itself isn't...just giving you a heads up now. Please enjoy!

* * *

Gibson stared at the screen with wide eyes. After hours of convincing Mandarin to leave the torso tank to check on the baby, he finally came out of there.

"Monkey doodle..." He muttered as he turned to Mandarin.

Mandarin looked down a bit, hands shaking.

"What did he do to you?" Gibson asked before shaking his head, already knowing the answer.

It was enough. He scanned Mandarin's body and the substances Skeleton King placed in his body overtime was insane. There were different substances that quickened previous infant's growth in the womb, no doubt just so that more and more soldiers would be produced overtime. Those same substances are definitely the reason why the children living with them are aging so quickly . Though, those substances are probably what caused Angela not having a right leg and the new baby's blind eye. However a new batch of substances didn't seem to enter Mandarin's body and affect the baby this time. Gibson then concluded that he was around three months along, which also meant as soon as the new baby was born Mandarin was impregnated again after a few weeks. Or the baby was born earlier and Mandarin got impregnated again, it was hard to say.

"So that means it will develop at a normal gestation period." Gibson explained, receiving a nod.

Gibson then took out the stick from the ultrasound machine and the gel for it. Mandarin laid back and waited, shivering as the ice cold gel was placed on his stomach. Gibson listened to the heartbeat and frowned a bit. Why did it sound so off? Gibson moved the device a bit more and realized.

"It's twins...I can tell." Mandarin muttered.

Gibson gulped and turned to him.

"That would explain the heart beats." He said.

Mandarin sighed at his shocked expression.

"Look it's fine, I gave birth to quadruplets before so this isn't really surprising." He said, nearly making Gibson fall to the floor in shock.

 _"Quadruplets?! How many soldiers did Skeleton King want in this army?!"_ Gibson thought as Mandarin fully sat up.

"So I take it I can leave now?" He asked.

Gibson paused but slowly nodded.

"I don't see why not." He said as Mandarin began to leave the room when he froze as Violet walked in.

"Gibson, can I help with the anti-ageing thingy?" She asked before looking up at Mandarin.

"Hi." She greeted before going past him.

Gibson saw Mandarin's fear filled eyes and paled face when she came into the room. It was the same expression he had when Penny entered the Torso tank.

"Erm Mandarin-?" He began to ask but Mandarin quickly left the room.

Violet frowned a bit.

"What's his problem?" She asked.

Gibson sighed.

"I wish I'd knew that myself." He said as Violet hopped onto the stool next to him.

Outside the lab, the others were still figuring out a name for the grey monkey.

Roland's lip curled as he tapped his face with one finger.

"Hmmm how about Phil?" He suggested.

Chiro gave him a weird look as the grey monkey babbled loudly.

"I dunno he doesn't look like a Phil." He said.

Kuzon rolled onto his stomach.

"Maybe Coriander? I heard it from a tv show that Angela was watching." He suggested.

"Hmmm maybe..."

They then saw Mandarin rush out of the lab and going right back down the transport tube. Roland lifted his head as he went down.

"Umm...should we ask what happened in there?" He asked, causing Kuzon to shrug.

Maurice and Antauri then entered the room after their lessons.

"Did you find a name for him yet?" Maurice asked.

Kuzon shook his head.

"Not really no." He said as Maurice sat down.

The baby monkey yawned as he stared up at him. Maurice stared at him for a bit.

"Erin." He decided.

"Erin?"

Maurice nodded.

"It means peace and he has a peaceful look on his face." He said.

Roland looked at his face before raising an eyebrow.

"You sure? Because he looks bored." He said.

"Yes I'm sure." Maurice said, sounding slightly annoyed.

Chiro smiled a bit.

"Well I think it's nice, let's go with it." He said, turning to Antauri.

Antauri nodded.

"I will go tell Gibson." He said as he went off to the lab.

Erin then looked over to the late transport tube and started whining, wanting his mother.

"Oh no!"

* * *

Antauri walked into the lab and saw Violet and Gibson looking over particles.

"So do you think this could work?" Violet asked.

Gibson nodded.

"If we do a reversal on this substance I have found in your bloodstream and put in a few extra chemicals then the treatment will be ready! Now you won't have to go to a nursing home in a few years." Gibson jokingly said.

Violet rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Please, like I would get along with the nurses there." She scoffed.

Antauri smiled at their interaction before realizing what Gibson was talking about.

"Wait have you found the final piece to stop the aging process?" He asked.

Gibson nodded.

"Yes and it's all thanks to-" he then remembered Violet was still in the room.

"You know."

Antauri smiled and nodded.

"It'll take a few hours but I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem." Gibson said, Antauri shaking his head.

"Not at all, I'm just glad you've found a way to stop the aging process." He said.

Violet smiled a bit before bouncing in her seat.

"So can we get started on it?" She asked.

Gibson nodded.

"Of course we can, just wait here while I go get supplies." He said, motioning Antauri to follow him.

The two went off while Violet looked at some books.

"We decided to name the new child Erin." Antauri said as the two gathered what they needed.

Gibson nodded, that was a nice name.

"So how did Mandarin's appointment go?" Antauri asked.

Gibson put down the beaker and turned to him.

"Well uh...I have found some information." He said.

Antauri paused and stared at him, waiting. Gibson walked over to him, making sure Violet wasn't hearing.

"Mandarin is having twins." He stated.

Antauri's eyes widened at the news.

"He is?" He asked softly.

"Yes and he was completely unphased by it, almost as if this was normal to him." Gibson explained.

Antauri bit his lip, realizing how bad Skeleton King abused him.

"Also there were traces of different chemicals and substances from previous pregnancies that have the fetuses age faster. However none of them are affecting the babies. So it will be a normal nine months...assuming that it's normal in the first place." Gibson said, muttering the last part.

Antauri looked down.

"Well what we should do for now is make sure everything goes smoothly and make sure Skeleton King never gets him back. That and we need to find time to go find this lab and get the other monkeys out."He said.

"Of course, but when should we tell...?" Gibson and Antauri looked as Violet read a book.

Antauri looked down and closed his eyes.

"When the time is right Gibson. Right now isn't a good time for either of them." He said.

Gibson stared at him before looking back at Violet.

"Of course."

* * *

"Mandarin I need to work in here." Chiro said as he sat down in the Torso Tank.

Mandarin turned back to him, tired both physically and mentally.

"Don't worry, I won't bother you." He said.

Chiro sighed and turned. Antauri said this was the most comfortable place for him, but there were repairs needed to do and Mandarin being there was sort of awkward.

Chiro began to fix some of the wiring while Mandarin stared at the wall. The situation became very awkward very quickly, mostly on Chiro's part.

"So uh...twins that's um...that's a lot." He said awkwardly, trying to make conversation.

Mandarin stared down at his stomach.

"Not really, I mean I have had twins before and I've had more than just two." He muttered.

Chiro sucked in some air through his teeth. Jeez! Mandarin raised his head a bit.

"I sure hope that next time this may happen I will only have just one. That would be nice." He sighed.

Chiro set down his wrench and turned to him. What was that now? Was Mandarin seriously planning on having more kids even when he said a week ago he wanted it to stop?

"Mandarin you...what?" Chiro breathed out.

Mandarin looked back to him.

"Yes?"

"You said you wanted it to stop. Isn't that what you said?"

Mandarin blinked, completely straight faced..

"Well I wanted the production of having my children being turned into soldiers to stop...but Skeleton King said that if I can't fulfill my purpose of being a weapon to destroy...then a breeder is all I'm good for." He explained.

Woah where did that come from?! Mandarin has only been here a week and he barely talked much. Now all of a sudden Chiro was hit with this!

"Mandarin that isn't true!" He said, getting up.

Mandarin stared at him.

"Your purpose isn't to destroy or give birth to a huge amount of kids, you know that." Chiro continued.

Mandarin looked down a bit, feeling unsure. Sure there was a part of him fighting to agree to that, but there was a part of him that still clung to what Skeleton King and those who 'took care of him' repeatedly told him.

Chiro leaned over the chair.

"You don't have to keep having so many babies...you can choose what to do with your life now." He said.

Mandarin kept looking down.

"I...I suppose." He muttered.

Chiro nodded a bit before going back to work on the control panel. Mandarin rested back against the seat and stared at the wall again. What does he want to do now? He does intend to carry out this pregnancy but...what is he going to do after that? Not only is there a small baby monkey the team is taking care of but there will be two more of them coming soon. Was he going to let the team take care of them too? Mandarin sighed, he shouldn't have to but at the same time he still was so scared. He was scared of his own children. He bit his lip and fought back tears at that thought.

Chiro finished working on the control panel and stood up.

"Well that takes care of that." He sighed before looking at Mandarin.

"Are you going to be alright in here?" He asked.

Mandarin nodded slightly. Before Chiro could say anything else, Penny dropped from the tube and right into Chiro's arms.

"Chi, Angela needs help with her game." Penny chirped.

Chiro laughed and nodded.

"Okay I'll be up there in a minute." He said before noticing Mandarin freezing up.

Penny waved.

"Hi again! Didja enjoy your lunch?" She asked.

"I-uh I- yes." Mandarin stuttered.

"That's good! Well, see you at dinner." She chirped before going up.

Mandarin sighed a bit, shaking slightly. Chiro tilted his head.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" He asked.

Mandarin nodded.

"Ye-yes..." He said, feeling as if his heart will thrust out of his chest.

Chiro slowly nodded, not really so sure of that.

He went back up as Mandarin rested his head back. He needed to get out of here, maybe go to a different part of the robot.

Roland waited until Chiro went away before slowly going down into the torso tank. He barely got any answers on this Mandarin guy and it was time he got some. He came down to see the large panel to the torso tank being shut.

 _"Oh no you don't!_ " Roland thought as he opened it and began to follow Mandarin.

Roland followed him as Mandarin went through various industrial parts of the robot. The larger monkey kept looking around, as if finding something.

 _"What are you looking for, old man?"_ Roland thought before accidentally stepping on an old wrapper.

Mandarin stopped walking, turned, and fired at whoever was following him. Roland quickly hid behind the large machine next to him. He wheezed as Mandarin edged closer. Mandarin glared as he held up one of his knuckles, ready to fire.

"Are you one of the robots that kept me prisoner? If so, tell your leader that I am never going back to that miserable place, so I suggest you-!"

Roland held out his hands.

"Wait! Wait!" He yelped, having Mandarin stop in his tracks.

Mandarin's stomach twisted as he saw Roland peek out from behind the machine, hands still up.

"It's just me." He breathed.,

Mandarin backed up, looking around if more of them were following him. He almost fired at his own son! He backed up even more when he saw Roland slowly coming towards him.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked.

Mandarin could barely get any words out as his back eventually touched the wall.

"I doing- I was doing-I-no I was looking-!" Mandarin babbled, unable to even talk correctly in front of him.

Roland crossed his arms and tilted his head. He was getting suspicious.

"Looking for...?" Roland waited for him to finish his sentence.

"S-somewhere to...rest." Mandarin replied, finally getting a hold of himself.

Roland blinked, was that it?

"Then why don't you go to your room? I know when I get sleepy I just go to my room and sleep." He said.

Mandarin couldn't tell him why his room kept reminding him of the one he was forced to stay in the labs. It would reveal too much.

"N-not that kind of..." He muttered.

Roland shrugged.

"Well I dunno why you want to rest down here, it's kinda hard. I'd rest in the laundry room, at least you'd get to sleep on clothes. Clean preferably." He advised, knowing this from experience.

Mandarin slowly nodded, now starting to feel sick.

"Also Chiro said you were throwing up a lot so I'd throw up in the garbage shoot." Roland said, noticing how sick he looked.

Wait, what was he doing?! Roland needed answers!

"So! Why is the team letting you stay here? Cause you were a bad guy before but why are you living here now?" He asked.

Shit! What was Mandarin supposed to tell him?!

"It's not...I'm not-I-" And Mandarin was already losing control speaking properly.

Roland tilted his head.

"Not what? Like that anymore?" He asked.

Mandarin quickly nodded. Roland blinked, that answers one question.

"Oh...well why are you here? Is it because of the bad thi-?" He began to ask before he felt a hand on his head.

"And may I ask what you're doing here young man?" Gibson asked.

Roland jumped and quickly turned around.

"Talking to him." He answered, trying to keep cool.

Gibson eyed Mandarin before looking back at Roland.

"What for? Because someone is supposed to be helping with the dishwasher." He said before crossing his arms.

"I'm gonna be there, it's just I have some questions for him." Roland said.

Gibson sighed, this child's curiosity is admirable but right now wasn't a good time.

"Roland you know how he is, his emotional state is..." He carefully eyed Mandarin, who looked down a bit.

"...not very stable."

"And I want to know why." Roland chirped.

Gibson sighed again.

"You will just when the time is right. He's still adjusting to living here."

Roland crossed his arms, he hated waiting! Gibson then took his hand.

"Come on now, dishes are waiting." He said, causing the green monkey to groan.

Roland then looked back at Mandarin.

"Laundry room's on the left then take the right!" He called out.

Mandarin nodded slightly before sighing as soon as he was gone. He placed a hand over his stomach unknowingly. They were already asking questions, or at least one of them was. How long could the team hide this from them? He wasn't sure, but preferably not for a long time. He looked down towards the hallway leading to the laundry room and began to go towards it. He might just take his sons offer on laying on the clean clothes.

* * *

Violet was to say a very odd girl with very odd interests. Science, cooking, and the likes wasn't odd, but what she did was. Gibson had her make a potato battery to work on, but then she somehow made it into a potato root mess. Volcano project? Have it shoot out hot slime and glitter instead of baking soda. Dissecting a frog? Give the frog a freaking candy heart!

She would also block everything out until it was done or didn't work. She couldn't even get up for food she was so into what she was doing. The only few people that could get her out of her concentration was Gibson and Angela.

"Violet, it's time for bed." Gibson said as Violet looked up from her pickle and strawberry jam mix.

"But Gibson I'm almost done!" She whined.

"And you can finish it in the morning. Right now you need to sleep so you can work better." He said, putting her creation in the fridge.

Violet sighed and got up, that was true. After hugging him goodnight, she was trailing down to her room so Nova could read to her. She then heard loud sniffling coming from the room Mandarin was staying in and stopped. She perked her ear at the door. Her siblings had mixed feelings on their newest housemate. Roland was constantly suspicious, Angela was weary of him, Maurice was curious, and Kuzon was just scared. Violet rolled her eyes at the thought. Of course he was, as sweet as Kuzon was, he was unable to handle things that were 'frightening'. Not her or Penny. Penny just wants to be friends with him, but Violet generally thinks he's cool. Whoever designed his appearance, she wanted to shake their hand because he just looked so incredible! Being that big and powerful could help so many people. That is if he wants to help people and not try to live a regular life, that would be understandable. There was also a familiarity to his appearance, almost as if she knew someone like him before. Violet pressed her ear against the door even more before realizing that the door was slightly open and fell through.

Violet fell flat on her face and that made Mandarin yelp in surprise. Violet lifted herself off the ground as Mandarin was on his bed, tears streaming down his face. Violet was taken back by this, why was he crying? Violet realized she had to say something.

"Umm...cool chest armor." She said, leaning against the doorframe.

Mandarin placed a hand on his chest and could barely speak.

Violet looked around, feeling a bit awkward.

"So uhh can you put things in there?" She asked, walking closer to him.

Mandarin backed away a bit, feeling sick. Violet held up her hands.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm not like the people that caused you to act like this." She said.

Mandarin's eyes widened a bit, just what did she mean by that?

"I mean I don't know what they did but it must have really screwed you up so..."

Mandarin nearly had a heart attack when Violet hopped onto the bed.

"Man you're lucky you have such a big bed, I mean mine is fine it's just having a bed this huge would be great." She said.

Mandarin didn't say anything, still feeling sick. Violet sat on the bed and looked around. The room was dimly lit and didn't have a lot of furniture in it.

 _"It's a bit empty."_ She thought.

"You know, I would put up glow in the dark stars on your ceiling." She suggested, pointing upwards.

Mandarin eyed the ceiling before looking back at her, making sure she didn't get too close.

She laid on her back and stared at the ceiling.

"Like, not even stars but an entire galaxy. That would be cool." Violet breathed.

Mandarin didn't really say anything, out of all the children in here he was probably scared of her the most. For reasons that would hurt too much to speak of.

"Maybe you can also put in here some lava lamps. They help Erin sleep." She said.

His heart pained when his name came up. He already has a name and Mandarin barely knows anything else.

"He cries a lot sometimes, which Gibson says it's normal for a baby but it just kinda annoys me." Violet said, as she sat up and kicked her legs back and forth on the edge of the bed.

Mandarin's heart pained more hearing that. He should be there for him, taking care of him, but he can't because he could barely get a hold of himself! He couldn't even talk to his daughter!

"He also likes those stuffed caterpillars that Kuzon had as a baby, they're really soft too and..." Violet then noticed tears were streaming down his face as he placed a hand over his mouth.

"O-oh I'm sorry what-!?" Violet began, thinking that she caused him to cry when an idea popped in her head.

"Wait I'll get Otto!" She said before hopping down the bed.

Mandarin quickly looked up.

"N-no wait!" He began but she was already out of the room.

A few minutes later Violet rushed back in with Otto.

"Mandarin, what's wrong?" Otto asked, hopping onto the bed.

Violet stood there until Otto motioned her to leave.

"He's gonna be fine just...get to bed." He said.

Violet was about to protest but she looked at Mandarin. Something told her to just leave him alone. Violet left the room and Otto looked up at Mandarin.

"He needs me...he needs me and I can't do anything!" Mandarin sobbed as Otto curled up with him.

"What do you mean?" He asked

Mandarin sniffled and wiped his face.

"Erin, he needs me. He keeps crying and wants me but I can't..." Mandarin sobbed harder as Otto crawled up on him.

"Settle down, you'll make yourself sick." Otto said softly, rubbing his head.

Otto grimaced when Mandarin held onto him, his strength hurting his back, but he kept stroking his head. This was very odd for him, considering back then Mandarin barely shed a tear but now? Then again with what Mandarin has been through, it was more than understandable.

"I'm scared...I'm scared of my own children and yet I can't do anything about it!" Mandarin shuddered, tears falling fast.

Otto stared at him straight in the face. Channeling his inner Antauri, he tried to think of something to say to comfort him. That and he tried to remember what Antauri said a while before also.

"Yes there is, time and love. You need time and a lot of love to recover from all of this. I'm sure the fear will slowly go away and you can feel comfortable around your babies again but for now you need to rest and recover." He said, wiping his tear streaked face.

Mandarin sniffled.

"But he's crying...Erin wants me and I can't even comfort him because I can't even take care of myself."

Otto rested his forehead against Mandarin's.

"You will, we just need to be slow. Okay?"

Mandarin sniffled and closed his eyes.

"I just feel like a terrible mother for being like this." He lamented.

Otto shook his head.

"No you're not, you're a good mom. You gave us those sweet kids to protect. " Otto muttered.

Mandarin didn't respond, he just kept listening.

"So for now let us handle the kids and have them slowly warm up to you, while you focus on recovering and taking care of the babies inside you."

Mandarin slightly nodded. Otto pulled back a bit and held Mandarin's face.

"It's also cute that you refer to yourself as a mom." He said smiling.

Mandarin sighed and rested his head against Otto's chest.

"Well that is what I am, am I not?"

Otto giggled and nodded. The two shared a long silence before Otto asked, "You wanna watch a movie? We haven't watched one together in a long time."

Mandarin thought about it before closing his eyes and smiling a bit.

"I'd like that."

Violet waited in her room until she saw Mandarin and Otto leave the room, with Otto chatting with him. She saw that Mandarin looked happier than before and she instantly felt relief. For reasons why she didn't know.

* * *

After that, it was Otto's mission for Mandarin to recover and help him out. This included helping him with his morning sickness, crying spells, and nightmares. He began to act more like an expecting father/husband to him than anything. The process was slow but steady yet Mandarin was still afraid of his children.

Mandarin uncontrollably yelped as a few of them rushed past them. He sighed and placed a hand on his chest.

"No more lessons for today!" Roland cheered.

"Thank goodness because I was dying!" Angela laughed.

"You two should really be a bit more serious about this." Maurice sighed.

"Okay mini Antauri." Violet snickered.

Maurice frowned a bit.

"I'm not a mini Antauri."

"Sure mini Antauri." Roland snickered before the others were chased by Maurice.

Penny wanted to rush after them but saw Kuzon panting and having a hard time catching up. Mandarin looked down at him as he rested against one of the rooms.

"You ok Kuzy?" She asked as she went over to him.

"Yeah...just...just give me a sec." Kuzon said before sighing.

Penny tilted her head.

"You tired? Cause you can go take a nap if you want." She chirped.

Kuzon sighed.

"Nah, it's just my softness getting in the way." He said softly.

Penny gasped, hearing many commercials on tv going over these things called 'diets', that apparently make people lose their softness.

"You aren't gonna lose your softness are you?!"

Kuzon laughed.

"No, I couldn't lose it even if I tried. Gibson said when I was born that I can't gain or lose weight...well I can gain weight just as I grow up." Kuzon muttered.

Penny blinked as Mandarin understood. Some of his supreme destructor genes had passed onto Kuzon, only he was just chubbier instead of having muscle.

"So you're soft for life?" Penny asked.

"Basically." Kuzon shrugged.

Penny hugged him.

"Good cause you give the best hugs!" She huffed.

Kuzon rolled his eyes but patted her head. The two then noticed Mandarin there and he backed up a bit.

"Hi Manny!" Penny waved while Kuzon looked up at him nervously.

Mandarin backed up a bit more, unable to speak.

"It's ok, he's more scared of you than you are of him." Penny chirped.

Kuzon shook his head.

"I-I am not." He said, turning to Mandarin.

"I was talking about you to him silly!" Penny scoffed, pointing at her older brother.

Kuzon gulped a bit. Penny looked between the two before an idea popped inside her head.

"Okay you know what? You should spend time together while I go and play!" She said before pushing Kuzon towards Mandarin.

The two looked at her, alarmed.

"Penny!" Kuzon exclaimed.

Penny waved as she ran off.

"Have fun!"

"Penny wait a second!" Kuzon yelled after her.

But she turned a corner and was gone. Kuzon and Mandarin stood there for a second, an awkward silence filling the room.

"Why does she intend on doing stuff like this?" Kuzon sighed to himself before slowly looking up at him.

Mandarin felt incredibly sick, however for completely different reasons.

"So uh since she's just gonna keep pestering us until we actually spend time together what-"

"Wait." Mandarin quickly said before going into the bathroom.

Kuzon flinched as he heard the sounds of Mandarin throwing up. He waited outside until Mandarin slowly went back out.

"I-sorry." Mandarin sighed.

"N-no that's fine...is it contagious? Because I don't want to paint using my breakfast." Kuzon said, half joking.

Mandarin shook his head.

"That's good...so uh what do you want to do first?"

Mandarin slowly began shaking.

* * *

"This is definitely not what I had in mind but that's okay." Kuzon said as Mandarin sat in the Torso Tank.

No matter where Mandarin went, Kuzon trudged behind him. Usually bringing a sketchbook or something like that with him. Mandarin's anxiety was extremely high today because of that and even in his own safe spot he couldn't escape. Kuzon took out his sketchbook and began drawing. Kuzon knew if he didn't stick with Mandarin for at least a little bit, Penny would never stop pouting and giving him the puppy dog eyes. That was his biggest weakness, other than sleep of course.

Kuzon glanced up at Mandarin before continuing to draw. He kept glancing up at him a few times before pausing, looking at his sketchbook. His hands shook before he threw it up into the air and let out a frustrated yell, causing Mandarin to jump a bit.

"No...no I got this." He sighed before grabbing it again and turning a few pages.

Mandarin watched him as he began drawing him again, flinching each time Kuzon glanced at him. After a while, Kuzon groaned and fell onto his back.

"I can't draw big muscles at all!" He whined before placing the sketchbook on his face.

Mandarin looked over at him, now curious as to what he's doing. Kuzon looked up at him sheepishly.

"You're...you're hard to draw." He admitted.

Mandarin blinked.

"W-what?"

Kuzon sat up.

"You're hard to draw. I mean I can do your face, I can do your hands, I could even do your armor but your muscles? For some reason I can't get them to look right!" Kuzon ranted, while Mandarin listened.

"Maybe I need to get more of those drawing books...they might help." Kuzon muttered.

Mandarin nodded slightly, they might. He himself was no artist but still.

Kuzon picked up his sketchbook and began drawing something different this time. Then Mandarin grew confused, the heck was he drawing him for? His curiosity grew intolerable as he tried to ask his son. Keyword here being tried.

"Erm-w-why...why are you-were you..?"

Kuzon looked at him until he figured out what he was trying to say.

"Oh! Well um I tend to immortalize moments into art. As much as I love photography I like to sketch them down more. It's a bit more personal." He explained.

Mandarin nodded slightly, that made sense. That and he felt a bit more comfortable with his answer. Kuzon kept sketching until he looked back at Mandarin.

"I-I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable by-"

"N-no, it's fine." Mandarin softly said, causing Kuzon to sigh in relief.

"Okay...that's good." He said before going back to drawing.

The two sat there for a while, both feeling not as scared as before.

* * *

D'awww, anyway I'll try to update as much as I can but with college that's gonna be a bit hard. Still I hope you enjoyed this chapter thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Welcome back, school has been stressing me out but I still have enough energy to edit a chapter together! So here's another one with more bonding experiences, please enjoy!

* * *

It had been a month since Mandarin has stayed in the robot and began the healing process. It was a slow and very hard process, but at least there was some progress. Mandarin can stay in the same room as his children now, just got scared whenever they got close.

As for the team they began to look for the labs, letting Mandarin rest for the time being. He kept saying he could tell them where it is, but that just brought back terrible memories.  
He felt so useless being like this. He wanted to help so he could save the other children but for the time being he needed to have as less stress on him as possible.

Especially for the twins.

Angela and Maurice where the only ones so far still unable to go over to Mandarin. Penny kept happily going over to him and trying to make him feel better, Roland kept close to him in case he did anything 'funny' while also talking with him, Violet kept close by him and kept suggesting things to put in his room, and Kuzon kept trying to draw him. Maurice was indeed curious about Mandarin, but kept his distance just in case while Angela was still kind of nervous around him. She just wasn't sure if he was good now or not. She's no master of the Power Primate, but Antauri kept saying that he sensed good in him. So it was kind of hard to believe, at least to her.

Angela frowned a bit as Penny came up from delivering Mandarin his food, which was now his fourths.

"Maaan he must be feeling better! That's the fourth plate!" Penny chirped.

"He's just really hungry Penny." Jinmay said, knowing why he has to eat so much.

"Yeah being that buff I bet he has to eat a lot." Roland scoffed, eyes on his game.

"Still! It's crazy!" Penny exclaimed as she sat down next to him.

"Should he be eating that much? I mean he has been getting pretty big..." Maurice said before regretting his word choices.

The team froze up, shit! How were they supposed to respond to that? Yes Mandarin has been showing more recently, but the kids had no idea he was pregnant. That would just open a whole can of worms.

"Hey c'mon now, we shouldn't judge. I mean food is pretty fantastic." Violet said as Penny nodded.

"C-can we just change the subject?" Sprx asked.

The kids looked at him, confused.

"Why? It's not making me uncomfortable." Kuzon said.

"I-I know but let's just let it go for now."

"Sprx." Nova began.

She knew what he was trying to do, but he still had to be more careful. They could get suspicious.

For example, Angela looked over at them, now suspicious herself. Why was Sprx so nervous? Hmmm...

Angela hopped up from her seat and decided to walk off her suspicions. She went down the tubes and began strolling. She usually would go outside with one of the members but she didn't feel like doing that today.  
She looked over at the orange tube and stared at it for a second. How long is he going to be down there for? Angela looked around before going over to it, her suspicions taking over. Most of the other kids seemed to like him okay, but she wanted to see why herself.

* * *

Mandarin finished his plate as Otto sat on his shoulder.

"You want anymore?" Otto asked.

"Maybe later." Mandarin said as he handed him the plate.

As Otto took it, the two heard the orange tube swish and yelling as Angela fell onto the chair. Mandarin yelped as Angela was tied to the chair by the seat belts.

"Uh are you okay Ange?" Otto asked.

"Those tubes are too fast!" Angela wheezed as she unhooked the seat belts.

She sat up and turned to the two, making Mandarin gulp slightly.

"So what'cha doing Otto?" She asked, laying her head on the top of the seat.

"Sitting here with Mandarin." Otto replied as he patted Mandarin's head.

Angela nodded a bit before glancing at Mandarin, suddenly feeling a bit awkward. His stomach was bigger, but she really didn't want to bring that up.

"Sounds fun. I bet he must be great for like...I dunno watching concerts or something." She said.

Otto snickered and put a hand over his mouth.

"Reminder he didn't always look like this, he used to look like us."

"Oh I know. Still sounds kinda fun." Angela said, shrugging.

Mandarin gripped his hands a little bit, she didn't know any better. She had no idea what Skeleton King has done. Have they even heard of him?

Angela tapped the top of the seat.

"But still...I heard that some bad things happened to you that turned you into this...was it because of that Skeleton King guy?" She asked, causing Otto to flinch.

Oh this wasn't going to end well. Mandarin gulped as his throat became dry. He couldn't help but shake lightly as he remembered each visit Skeleton King used to do in those labs. Angela sensed this.

"Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories...I was just curious." She said, feeling guilty.

"It's okay Angela, maybe you should go back up with the others." Otto suggested.

Mandarin shook his head as Angela began to get up.

"N-no it's fine." He said softly.

Angela's birth was especially difficult. He was in labor for nearly seventeen hours and they nearly lost her twice. When she came out with only one leg, the robots contemplated on keeping her alive or throw her away with the others with more severe defects. However, Mandarin sent her to the Hyperforce before they could even think about it. They brushed it off as her dying soon after her birth but Mandarin knew otherwise.

So it was no surprise to him,as much as he was getting through this now, he felt a bit more comfortable around her. That and with the amount of healing he has been getting over the past month. Angela blinked before sitting back down.

"I'm gonna take that reaction before as a yes." She muttered.

Mandarin briefly nodded as Otto kept close to him, making sure his emotional state was still in tact. Angela looked down, a bit furious. She narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

"That's awful..."

" _Honey you don't know the half of it."_ Otto thought, biting his lip.

Angela looked back at Otto.

"So why did he do that?" She asked.

Otto was about to say something when he heard Mandarin scoff, loudly.

"Because he said he would 'teach me' my destiny. What a bunch of tripe, it only made me his slave."He huffed, rolling his eyes.

Otto couldn't help but blink in surprise and smile. He was talking to her, and talking to her well! That is such amazing improvement! Angela nodded slightly.

"Sounds like it, but it's good that you're away from him now." She said, causing the two to look at her.

"I mean you said he was nice before. So it's good that he's back with us." Angela said as she rested her head on the seat. .

It did everything in Mandarin's power to not start tearing up, combined with hormones and just overall being emotionally unstable. The team raised them right, much better than he ever could.

"True, I did miss his grumpy face." Otto chirped, patting Mandarin's face.

Angela giggled before thinking to herself a bit.

"So uhh is there a radio to listen to? My show's gonna come on soon..."

Mandarin frowned a bit as Otto hopped down.

"Sure, just let me set it up." He said as he tapped a few buttons on the control panel.

Angela sat back in the chair, her anticipation and excitement growing stronger. Otto twisted a few buttons before tuning the radio to the right station.

"...be careful Zillion! There are more of these mystic aliens than we thought!"

"Alright! Attack of the mystic ladies of Emerald ten!" Angela cheered before laying back.

She looked back up at Mandarin and Otto, giving them a small but warm smile.

"You can stay if you want." She suggested.

Otto nodded before he turned to Mandarin.

"Would you be okay with that? We can go back to your room if you want." He said, rubbing his head.

Mandarin blinked before glancing at Angela, who waited for their response.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to...s-stay." He said nervously.

Otto smiled and patted the top of his head as Angela turned.

"Great! This is a good episode too!" She said with excitement.

Mandarin nodded slightly as Otto hopped down to sit. Angela happily sat back as the three listened to the program.

* * *

"He's getting so much better being around the kids." Otto said proudly, arms crossed.

Gibson nodded, that was good. Otto went to see Gibson in his lab after the radio show ended and Mandarin went to lay down.

"It's great he's improving in that area...we just need to work on his overall mental state. How is it?" Gibson asked.

Otto bit his lip.

"His nightmares are getting better but he's still having trouble sleeping. Me being there helps a bit." He said.

Gibson nodded.

"And he still hasn't warmed up to the rest of us yet but to be fair I don't think...I mean I know Sprx is getting better with him...but they still fight." Otto said, rubbing his arm.

That was true, last week Mandarin and Sprx were arguing over food choices and then the orange monkey started crying.

Gibson sighed and set down the clipboard he was holding.

"Otto you have to understand, this is still hard for some of us to get used to. I'm not saying we don't trust Mandarin or anything it's just after everything..." Gibson's voice trailed off.  
Otto gripped his knees, frustration bubbling hin his chest.

"I know that. I still get reminded of what he did sometimes but we still need to be there for him." He reminded him.

"That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying it's still hard to warm up to him back." Gibson argued.

Otto bit his lip, getting irritated. He understands that but if Mandarin's gonna recover he's gonna need all of the love and care in the world. However, he understands that it would be hard for them...he just wants everyone to be a family again. The two were quiet before Gibson grabbed another clipboard .

"On the plus side, Erin is pretty healthy. He doesn't seem to have any other health problems other than his partial blindness."

Otto smiled.

"That's great! Where is the little squish ball?" He asked before the lab doors opened and loud crying was heard.

Gibson pointed to a tired Sprx holding a wailing Erin.

"Right there." He said flatly.

Otto hopped up and rushed over to Erin.

"Aww what's wrong Erin?" He asked, taking the grey monkey away from Sprx.

Erin continued crying,

"He won't stop! Not even lava lamps can calm him!" Sprx whined, wanting to pull his fur off.

"Why does he keep crying so much?" Gibson asked, now getting tired himself.

"I don't know!"

Otto looked down at Erin before an idea popped into his head. He held Erin up and smiled widely.

"Don't cry buddy! You want to see mama?" He asked as Erin's cries settled a bit.

"Muh..." Erin sniffled.

Gibson and Sprx looked at each other. They didn't know about this.

"Otto are you sure?" Sprx asked.

Otto turned to him and nodded.

"If it's gonna get him to stop crying and Mandarin to bond with him then, yes!" Otto said with determination.

Erin sniffled even more but giggled with Otto nuzzled him.

"Besides, someone misses his mommy...and I bet his mommy misses him too." Otto chirped, holding him on his hip.

* * *

Mandarin still didn't like his room that much, but at least he was getting used to the idea that this was his room and not the labs. He was laying down on his side, trying to take a nap. Violet kept bringing in glow in the dark stars and planets for him, as well as the team putting other furniture in. The radio show was nice to listen to and Angela kept gushing about it when it was over, but Mandarin's emotions were already beginning to tire him out. However Angela was understanding and went off to find Penny.

Mandarin snuggled under the covers, glad that he was capable enough to stay in the same room as her and bond with her. Even if it was just a little bit.

The door opened as Mandarin knew it was Otto ready to snuggle with him. He was so close to falling asleep.

"Oh poop he's sleeping!" Otto huffed.

He heard Otto tip toeing over to him, right as Mandarin was on the edge of sleep.

"Can you crawl yet? No? Well you can sit on the bed for a bit anyway. I'll make sure you won't fall." He chirped before setting something down on the bed.

A sudden squeal woke him right up as he lurched up and backed up when he saw Erin babble loudly.

"Oh! Hi Mandy!" Otto chirped.

Erin babbled happily as he tried to grab for Mandarin. Mandarin looked down at him before back at Otto in confusion.

"W-what are you-?"

"He was crying and wanted to see you. So here he is...if that's ok." Otto explained.

Mandarin stared at him before realizing that Erin was already clutching to him, grinning. He gently but shakily placed a finger against Erin's cheek, causing him to coo.

"You didn't have to..." Mandarin said softly.

"I wanted to, I know how much you wanted to see him and bond with him...and since you were getting better..."

Maybe so, but there were kids he still would flip out if they came any closer, Erin and Angela seemed to be the exceptions for the time being. He still felt so terrified and the needing to throw up came back.

"I don't know if I am or not but...thank you." Mandarin muttered, swallowing down whatever wanted to come out of his throat.

Otto smiled as he watched Erin grab his large finger and babble, smiling.

"You let me know when you feel as if you're really gonna be sick."

Mandarin nodded, not taking his eyes off Erin. Erin kept babbling before attempting to heave himself up but couldn't. Mandarin placed a finger against Erin's cheek. Otto knelt next to the bed and watched the two.

"I think he wants you to hold him." He said to Mandarin.

"Otto my hands are bigger than my head, I don't think that'll be possible." Mandarin sputtered, nearly laughing at his ridiculous proportions.

Erin nuzzled his finger as Otto nodded.

"Yeah but I think you can still hold him in your hand if you want." Otto chirped.

Mandarin then felt even sicker, worried about what could happen if he dropped him. That and the amount of closeness scared him.

"I-I don't thi-think I'm ready yet..." He stuttered, shaking slightly.

Otto quickly nodded, his chest aching. Erin tilted his head at his mother's change in mood.

"D-don't worry then, when you're ready you're ready." Otto said, patting Mandarin's hand.

Mandarin nodded slightly, a lump growing in his throat. Erin noticed this and head butted his chest gently. Mandarin stared down at him before he felt tears stinging his eyes.

"You have been so upset that I wasn't around to take care of you...that I was about to leave you...I'm so sorry." Mandarin choked.

Oh no, Otto got up to pick Erin up but he stopped when he saw Mandarin holding him close.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry I haven't been there for you." Mandarin sniffled.

Erin looked up at him, unable to understand what he means. However, he then rested against his chest, cooing softly.

Mandarin sniffled a bit more as he wiped one of his eyes with his free hand. Otto hopped onto the bed and scooted over to him, resting his head against his stomach.

"Don't worry Mandarin I think he forgives you." He said, stroking his stomach.

Mandarin glanced at Otto before looking at Erin, who continued to babble as he placed a hand in the chest armor, touching the cold metal. Erin flew his hand back and gasped at the coldness before touching it again.

"Besides he's not gonna remember this anyway, so don't worry about it."

"I still feel so guilty though..." Mandarin muttered.

Otto smiled and crawled past Erin and nuzzled under his neck.

"Don't worry, because of you these kids aren't going to be a part of an army for Skeleton King. When we find the others we'll make sure they'll have the same lives." He comforted.

Mandarin listened to him before resting his head on his.

"I hope we do...before Skeleton King gets to them."

Otto nodded as Erin cooed loudly, reaching his hands out to him. Otto picked him up and held him close. Erin smiled widely and looked up at Mandarin.

"Now look at that, he's a happy baby." He smiled as Erin nuzzled him.

Mandarin nodded slightly. That he is.

Maurice was finished with his lessons for the time being and decided to go get a snack.

He saw Angela going down to the Torso Tank earlier today. She later explained that she was just listening to her radio show with Mandarin and Otto but Maurice still felt uneasy. He still didn't know too much about him, at least before he was evil but he knew enough about him when he was. Nearly taking over Shuggazoom, joining up with Skeleton King, and being replaced by a smaller clone was no doubt interesting but sort of disheartening. He guessed they took him back because he's good now but he wasn't acting as he thought he would. Why? Who knows, but he couldn't complain.

He took an apple out of the kitchen and began to eat it, on his way to the TV. He saw Otto leave Mandarin's room, with Erin in his arms. Otto then spotted Maurice and grinned.

"Hey Mo!" He chirped, causing Maurice to internally groan at the nickname.

"Hi..what are you doing with Erin?" He asked.

Otto held up Erin, who started drooling a bit.

"Showing him off to Mandarin." He said.

Maurice nodded but then furrowed his eyebrows.

"Ohh how come?" He asked.

"Just cause. Mandy was sad so I had him cheer him up."

Maurice nodded, the guy did have an gloomy aura around him.

"He's sleeping right now so if you're gonna watch tv keep the volume down." Otto advised

Maurice nodded.

"Sure thing." He said as Otto went into Erin's room to grab a baby seat for him.

Maurice sat down and watched a bit of TV for a bit. Otto sat near him and played with Erin, making the baby squeal. An idea suddenly popped into Otto's head.

"You know," Otto turned to Maurice.

"maybe you should visit him sometime." He offered.

Maurice frowned a bit.

"What for? Because every time I go near him he backs away and looks scared." He pointed out.

"Well yeah but he's getting better."

Maurice looked at him curiously as Otto bit his lip and looked off to the side.

"Besides he was a really big part of the team before he turned all evil and stuff. He was...he was like family." Otto said softly , seeming to be in his own little world for a while.

Maurice nodded, understanding. Otto was silent for a moment before shaking his head and grinning like normal.

"So! Maybe sometime when we leave for our outing this week if you don't feel like going you can stay with Mandarin."

Maurice raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure that's ok? Because he seems to be..."

Otto nodded and smiled sadly.

"I know he ain't all there right now, but Gibson said he won't be able to go to the one this week so he'll still be able to watch you."

Maurice nodded, that sounded better.

"I dunno...I'll think about it." He said before watching tv again.

Otto watched him for a moment before continuing to play with Erin. Maurice was quiet for a while.

"What do you think the people that dropped us off were like?" Maurice suddenly asked.

Where did that come from?! For that matter, what was Otto supposed to say to that?!

"I...I don't know why?" He asked nervously.

Maurice shrugged, not taking his eyes off the tv.

"I was curious...I mean they must have dropped us off here for a reason. Did they not have the resources to take care of us? Did they come from a strict monkey clan ?" He questioned before he sighed.

"I just wanted to know...what they were like and why they left us here." Maurice said, sounding sad.

Otto bit his lip, he really didn't want to lie to him but they were still not ready to tell them the real reason why.

"I'm sure they loved you very much, whatever reason they dropped you with us." He said.

He was relieved when he saw Maurice nod.

"I know they probably did...it still hurts." He muttered.

Otto bit his lip.

"I know."

* * *

Poor Maurice, my heart breaks for him Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey so bad news this may be the only update this week. This week will be very busy for me so I won't have enough time to edit and post any chapters. Don't worry you won't have to wait for too long. Anyways please enjoy!

* * *

When the weekly outing did come around, Maurice decided to stay behind and spend a bit of time with Mandarin. Maurice wasn't even sure what to talk to him about, let alone what to do with him.  
Maurice grabbed a book and went looking for him. He checked his room, the Torso tank, and the laundry room but he didn't seem to be in those usual places.

He kept walking around the robot, unsure where to look next.

* * *

"It seems they're doing well, but I would just eat a bit more to have the babies at a healthy weight." Gibson advised.

He would wait for an angry response like, "Have you seen how I've been eating lately?! What do I need to eat an entire buffet or something?"

But no Mandarin just nodded a bit, trying at least to be respectful.

"Sounds good to me." Mandarin said as Gibson wiped off the gel from his stomach.

As he sat up and Gibson shut the ultrasound machine off, the door opened and Maurice came inside.

"Gibson do you know where-oh never mind." He said as Mandarin felt the fear coming right back.

"Oh hello Maurice, I was just working in here." Gibson said, trying to cover up the real reason what he was doing.

Maurice nodded and looked at Mandarin, who flinched at his glance.

"So uh do you got plans today or something?" He asked the two.

"Not really." Gibson said as Mandarin shook his head a bit.

Maurice kicked some dust away with one foot.

"Then maybe we could watch a movie or something? I kinda want to see Galaxy Battles." He said awkwardly.

Gibson nodded.

"Sprx will get a bit peeved we watched without him but I don't see why not. He is a rather big fan of the series." He said before looking up at Mandarin.

"If you do not feel comfortable then I would understand if you would want to-"

Mandarin shook his head. As long as Maurice didn't get too close he could stay around.

Maurice nodded and walked back out.

"Okay maybe after dinner?" He asked.

"Alright." Gibson said before Mandarin stood up.

Ooh boy, this was going to be fun.

* * *

Gibson and Maurice were fully watching the movie, while Mandarin just sat a bit away from them. Maurice was confused to say the least. How was it that his brothers and sisters got so caught up with him again? All he really seemed to do was stay away and look sad. Aw well maybe there's something that he just isn't seeing yet.

That and the movie was fantastic. He sipped on his water as he saw Mandarin glance at the screen a few times here and there. He blinked and looked at Gibson,patting his arm to get his attention.

"Should I go over and I dunno say something?" Maurice asked quietly.

Gibson flinched a bit as he saw Mandarin stare at the wall. He wasn't too sure if the kids were ready to interact with him nor is Mandarin himself. Then again they keep interacting with him anyway so...

"I'm not sure maybe after the movie." Gibson said softly.

Maurice nodded and kept watching the movie, frowning as the screen flickered a bit. Without any warning the screen and lights shut off.

"What the-?!"

Gibson huffed and stood up.

"It's the power again, I keep telling Otto to fix that wire! I'll be right back." He huffed, using his flashlight and going towards the tubes.

At least they were working properly.

Maurice watched him go before the room became dark again. He looked over to Mandarin's spot. Maurice waited a second or two before deciding to speak.

"Umm are you okay?" He asked.

"C-could be better." Mandarin admitted.

Maurice nodded. The two sat in silence for a bit until Maurice looked over at Mandarin's spot again. Would it be possible if he would go over to him? Just to feel safer?

Maurice got up and slowly went over to Mandarin, whose breath hitched when he realized where he was going.

"E-erm is this okay?" Maurice asked.

Mandarin shook a bit as he came over, feeling sick.

"I-well I wouldn't...j-just stop there." Mandarin said as Maurice was a few feet away.

Maurice frowned a bit as he sat down.

"How could you tell I was here?" He asked suspiciously.

Mandarin wanted to explain, he really wanted to but he just couldn't find the nerve to actually speak.

"Is it because of the Power primate or something?" Maurice asked.

Too smart for his own good! Mandarin sighed, a bit relieved.

"Y-yes..." He finally answered.  
Maurice nodded, a smile growing on his face.

"That's interesting, Antauri and I were going to cover seeing without looking after a few lessons. I can't wait to learn it." He said happily.

Mandarin then listened for a while as Maurice went on all of the things he learned from Antauri ever since he got here, and all of the arguments Antauri and Roland got into. Which interested Mandarin a bit.

"Then they argued over how the training room was colored, like that even mattered! The room's color is fine! But Roland was set on it being black and yellow." Maurice went on.

He then laughed.

"I bet they're at the pancake restaurant, arguing over types of syrup!" He chortled, and was surprised when he could have sworn he heard Mandarin snicker back.

"Th-that wouldn't be too surprising." Mandarin stuttered.

Maurice nodded and calmed down.

"Yeah but he's a good kid, he's just uh...very very passionate and protective about the things he cares about...even if they're over the smallest things." He sighed.

Mandarin nodded, it sounds like he has anger issues similar to how his were.

"Especially over Penny, I mean as sweet as she is she's pretty naive to the world...and I get it I mean she's so young but..." Maurice sighed.

"I dunno...she's so trusting of everyone. It's gonna really hurt the first time someone's gonna misuse her trust." He muttered.

Mandarin nodded, it was something she will have to go through one day. Just the thought of that pains him.

Maurice sighed.

"But they're all good, they're all good..." He said, his voice drifting off.

Mandarin tilted his head a bit, something about his tone was a bit off.

"Are you...I mean..." Mandarin began before huffing, internally scolding himself.

"Is everyth-thing...alright?" He finally asked.

Maurice looked towards him before looking down.

"Oh, it's nothing it's just...I was just thinking about the people that left me and the others here." He said, sending chills throughout Mandarin's spine.

"It's just...I want to know why they left us here and one by one..." Maurice wondered, sounding a bit sad.

Mandarin stared down at the floor, unsure of how to approach this. He didn't want to give himself away, but at the same time he wanted to at least give his son a bit of comfort.

"I mean I know they must have loved us and all, but I still want to know the reason why." Maurice said before sighing.

Mandarin tried to think of something to say.

"W-well maybe when this war i-is over..." He tried to get out but his own fear kept him quiet.

"Yeah...maybe I'll talk to Antauri about finding them after the war is over. Maybe then I can get some answers." Maurice muttered.

Mandarin listened for a bit more. He wasn't sure if Maurice will like the answers he has for him. He wasn't even sure on how he'll react. Either way, the truth will have to be shown soon, Mandarin just wondered if it will harm them in the long run.

The lights flickered and came on, along with the movie. Gibson came back up and sighed.

"Well I got that settled for now." He sighed before looking between the two.

"Am I interrupting something?" Gibson asked, eyebrow raised.

The two shook their heads briefly.

"No you're fine." Maurice denied.

Gibson sighed a bit before eyeing Mandarin.

"Alright, just making sure." He said before the three of them went back to watching their movie.

Mandarin looked at Maurice as he stayed in his spot, not really moving any closer to the screen.

Mandarin laid back against the bubble chair he was sitting next to. It wasn't a huge step in improvement but it was enough.

* * *

Chiro looked through several alleys, hoping to find something that would lead them to the labs. Yet he felt it it was just going to be another defeating day.

Antauri noticed his frustration and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Chiro, we'll find the lab soon enough." He comforted Chiro.

Chiro sighed with frustration and gripped his fists.

"The other monkeys will already be in Skeleton king's clutches by then. We need to keep looking for it." He argued.

Sprx looked behind a dumpster.

"Mandarin could just tell us where it is." He huffed.

Antauri turned to him and frowned.

"You know he doesn't have the capability to speak about it right now. His mental state is very fragile and relaying those moments back to him will only make it worse." He explained.

Sprx grumbled but got it. He wasn't sure how he would act in a situation like this. He thought he saw something glittering and went over to it. He saw what seemed to be a huge covering to something.

"Hey guys, I think I got something." He called out to the two.

The two rushed over to him and Chiro tried to open the door but was unable to. Antauri grabbed their hands and they phased through the door and found themselves in a dark corridor that lead down a long staircase.

"I think we may have found our lab!" Chiro said with a smile on his face.

They had to be quick. The three rushed down and came across a large opening. When Chiro pushed it open he came into a seemingly normal kitchen.

"Wha-? Why is there a kitchen here?" Chiro asked.

Antauri looked around a bit.

"Perhaps they were attempting to try to make the labs have a 'home' sort of feeling." He suggested, causing Sprx to shiver in disgust.

"Like this is home to anyone in the slightest." He huffed.

They continued to sneak around the kitchen until they entered the hallway, leading to several rooms. Sprx peeked in at a huge bedroom with a massive bed, no doubting formerly belonging to Mandarin. Antauri peeked into what seems to be a operating room, having stained blood streaks staining the metal table. He shivered at the thought of the things that happened in here before closing the door. Chiro then peered into a room filled with small incubators, seeming to be a nursery. He looked at some of them and read the pieces of paper on them.

'Subject Rn-7'

'Subject Co-14'

'Subject Artms-1'

'Subject Os-12'

Chiro thought he heard something behind him and whipped his lightning bolts out, but found nothing. He sighed, this place was giving him the creeps.

Chiro then came across several large battle robots up in huge hangars. Chiro went up to one and touched the cool metal. They must have been created for the brainwashed monkeys to use eventually. He looked around and saw heavy like weaponry and armor labeled 'prototype: don't use'.

Chiro blinked in confusion. Why was that made? For the monkeys that didn't became robotized? Or was this for most of the army that will eventually use this against heavier machinery?

"Hey kid! You need to see this!" Sprx called out.

Chiro turned and went over to where Sprx and Antauri were standing. There were dozens upon dozens of monkey sized tubes connecting to large wires into a control panel not too far away. All of them were empty.

"Wh-what?! Where are they? There were supposed to be a ton of monkeys here." Chiro said, scanning them.

"Skeleton King must have gotten them before we came here...we were too late." Sprx sighed in defeat.

Antauri looked over the control panel and noticed something.

"Wait, Skeleton King took them the morning Mandarin came to live with us." He said.

Sprx and Chiro turned to him, eyes wide in confusion.

"Huh?" They both asked.

The two went over to the control panel and read something on a small screen.

'Days since activation: One month'

They also saw that the date was right after Mandarin entered the robot.

"But why would bonehead take the monkeys while Mandarin was still pregnant?" Sprx asked.

Antauri closed his eyes.

"To still keep producing soldiers, even after Skeleton King sends his army out." He suggested, causing Sprx to shiver.

"It would just never end for him wouldn't it?"

Chiro stared down at the date.

"Not anymore, he'll never be forced to come back here." He stated before he heard loud alarm noises.

"Intruders!" A metallic voice hissed as a group of robots barged into the room.

The three took out their weapons. The robots had half circle shaped heads with an antenna on their heads, with red plus signs on their faces. Their bodies almost looked like a long white gown with a small screen on their chests and different numbers above them. They had long arms with claws at the end and what seemed to be wheels for feet. One of the robots that had black lines covering their body stepped back.

"You...you took our subject away!" They exclaimed before their hands turned into flame throwers.

The three looked at each other.

"Time to go." Sprx said before darting.

"Wait what about-?!"

"We'll come back later, there's too many of them!" Antauri told Chiro before dodging several bullets and blasts.

"Get back here!" they heard one of the robots yell.

The team rushed into the kitchen and through the hole, closing it. They heard loud banging and clamping behind the seal before sighing.

"What do we do now?" Sprx asked.

Chiro sighs.

"Sometime later we'll take the whole team down here and search in case any other monkeys are still here. Then we'll figure out how to unbrainwash them." He said as the two nodded.

As they left and the robots still fuming, a small purple robotic head peeked from behind a wall.

"Well...that was kinda fun to watch."

* * *

Penny peeked around the corner before finding Mandarin and Otto sitting in the command center.

"How many hours did you sleep? You were asleep when I got up." Otto asked.

"Erm...six?" Mandarin said in the form of a question.

Otto smiled and clung to him.

"That's good! That's way better than the other night." He chirped.

Mandarin grumbled a bit before Penny bounded over to them.

"Hi!" She chirped, crawling up next to Otto and nearly giving Mandarin a heart attack.

"Hi Pen." Otto chirped, eyeing Mandarin.

Penny laid on her stomach and looked up at them.

"What'cha doing?" She asked, kicking her legs.

"Nothing." Otto chirped.

Penny nodded and looked up at Mandarin.

"What about you Manny?" She asked.

Mandarin froze up.

"N-nothing in particular."

"Same with you? Huh.." Penny said, sounding bored.

"It's only noon." Otto reminded her.

"Oh." Penny chirped before hopping down to go play one of her games.

Then Roland burst into the room, huffing and grumbling to himself. Otto noticed this and stood up.

"Hey what's wrong Rolly?" He asked.

"Freaking Angela and her freaking beads got into my freaking race track again!" He ranted as Angela followed him.

"I said I was sorry, I accidentally knocked them over!" She exclaimed.

"One of them got into the motors!" Roland snapped.

Otto went over to them as Mandarin and Penny watched on.

"Hey now it was an accident Roland. She didn't mean to have her beads fall onto your stuff." He said.

"It keeps happening though!"

"Roland this was only the second time!" Angela exclaimed.

Penny noticed Mandarin flinching at their tones. She looked over at his hand and held it. Mandarin flinched and looked down at her.

"Don't worry, I don't like it when they yell either." She chirped.

Mandarin stared at her before looking back at the three, Roland now pouting as Otto talked to them. Angela crossed her arms and sighed.

"Look if I keep my beads on the other side of the room would that make you happy?" She asked Roland.

Roland was silent, causing Angela to sigh again, deeper.

"And if I keep them in a bigger more safer box."

Roland glanced at her.

"As long as they don't get into my race track..." He grumbled before going over to Penny and sitting next to her.

Otto smiled before looking at Mandarin. Was he okay with so many kids around him? It seemed like it but then again he did look alarmed.

Roland looked up at Mandarin before jumping a bit in shock.

"Oh I didn't know you were here."

Mandarin eyed the room, growing more and more uncomfortable.

"How did you not see him?" Angela asked, holding back laughter.

"I was too mad!" Roland huffed, throwing his arms up in the air.

Angela smiled and shook her head, whatever. Chiro, Sprx, and Antauri then entered the room. Otto went over to them.

"Hey how did...you know?"

Chiro sighed and shook his head, now setting a bad feeling in Mandarin's stomach.

"We'll talk about that later, right now it's time for lessons." Antauri announced, causing Penny, Roland, and Angela to groan.

"But I want to be with Manny for a bit more!" Penny whined.

"He's not going anywhere Penny he'll still be here." Chiro said to her.

"But still! Can't he come with us?" Penny asked.

The team turned to each other. The question lied into whether Mandarin would really be comfortable with such a thing and from the look on his face, not at this moment.

"Erm we'll think about it for next time, right now you need to work on your language arts."

Penny pouted for a second before getting up.

"Okay..."

Roland quickly crawled up and behind Mandarin, whose heart began to race.

"H-hey..."

"Just hide me!" Roland whispered.

Antauri then noticed this and went over to him.

"Roland get down from y-his back." Antauri said sternly, catching himself from saying 'your mother's'.

Roland groaned and hopped down.

 _"Next time, his chest thingies."_ He thought as the three went off to gather the other children.

Otto watched them leave before looking at Mandarin.

"You okay?" He asked, receiving a nod.

Sprx snickered and smiled.

"Man, Penny has seriously become attached to you." He said, placing a hand on his hip.

Mandarin frowned a bit, confused.

"I mean she didn't want to leave your side and wanted you to come with her. It's kind of adorable actually."

Mandarin thought on this. She has gotten to really like him, despite how scared he was of her. It was actually sort of comforting that despite how unstable he is, that at least one of his children is trying to reach out to him with the same kindness and care as Otto did. She didn't even know what was really going on. Chiro nodded.

"Violet too, I mean she just won't stop talking and asking questions about you." He said.

Mandarin couldn't help but smiled a bit.

"I bet she's asking Antauri right now if you ever threw a car at us." Sprx laughed.

* * *

"Seriously has he ever chucked a car at you?" Violet asked excitedly.

"A car?" Angela asked.

"Yeah! He's probably strong enough to lift at least three cars or so. But Antauri, did he ever chuck a car at you guys?" She asked.

Antauri shook his head.

"No I don't think he threw a car at us..." He said.

Violet sighed, darn that would have been so cool.

"However I do remember him throwing an entire truck at us once."

Violet's eyes lit up at that.

"Why are you so interested in him anyway?" Roland asked.

Violet turned to him and held Roland by the shoulders and leaned back.

"Cause! He's cool!" She gushed.

"Why? He was a super villain that tried to destroy the team." Maurice reminded her.

"He's not like that anymore Maurice. I sense it, his soul is not as corrupt as it once was." Antauri explained.

"Then how come you didn't sense that the Shankos were evil?" Roland cooly asked, putting his hands on his hips.

Antauri was taken back by this. How did he know about that? He sighed.

"Because sometimes it is harder to sense evil in people. They can hide it behind a good aura, so we must be more careful." He said, knowing that the team hasn't fully warmed up to Mandarin yet.

Except Otto but he had a really good friendship with Mandarin previously.

Roland narrowed his eyes. Violet wrapped an arm around him.

"Besides Rolls-"

"Don't call me that." Roland growled.

"I don't know what it is other than he just seems really cool...I'm sort of attached to him and I don't get why." Violet muttered, catching the attention of Antauri.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

Violet shrugged.

"I don't know he...he just seems familiar to me...almost as if I knew someone like him before."

Antauri tilted his head. Was she beginning to have an emotional link with him?

Penny bounced a bit.

"I still want him to be here, he can help with my math!" She said excitedly.

"That's when Gibson is here Penny...anyway Roland how do you know about the Shankos?" Antauri asked, putting his attention on Roland.

"I read about them." Roland chirped, eyeing the side.

Antauri raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"How?" He asked suspiciously.

Roland began to sweat.

"I uh, found these papers that went over your missions you had in the back." He admitted.

Antauri sighed and closed his eyes.

"Roland-" He began.

"What? Some of the stuff was really cool!"

"But they are not for eight year olds." Antauri said, remembering some of the really violent and scary battles that they had.

Roland huffed and glared, indicating that the two were about to get into another argument. Maurice, Angela, and Kuzon stepped back.

"I can handle the really violent fights! I'm not a wimpy eight year old that can't even handle a splinter!" Roland argued.

"Hey those actually hurt." Violet huffed, a little hurt by his comment.

Antauri narrowed his eyes.

"You're still too young. There are things out there that you aren't ready for."

"Why? I'm gonna be seeing those things anyway! We're in a war!" Roland snapped.

"Not when you are in the bunker like you're supposed to be." Antauri argued.

"What if you die?! What if Sprx or Gibson or Otto or Nova dies?! You can't keep hiding stuff like war and violence to us when it's right outside!" Roland yelled, causing Penny to whimper.

Roland saw that and felt immediately guilty. Angela sighed, way to go.

"Penny I-I'm sorry." He said, hugging her.

"I don't want anyone to die..." She sniffled.

Roland closed his eyes.

"I know..."

Antauri looked down, he'll have to continue this with him later.

"If-if we could get onto the lesson today we may be able to get done with it early."

"Okay." The kids said together.

* * *

Nova and Sprx were waiting until Roland and Penny came back. The city really has calmed down since Skeleton King pulled back his forces, and a few people were out and about. Yet there were still many scared citizens that would prefer to stay underground.

Roland and Penny did show up, with Penny's mood already brightened.

"That was fun." She chirped.

Roland stuck his tongue out.

"Are you kidding it was dumb!" He scoffed.

Penny giggled until they saw Sprx and Nova. She ran over to them.

"Ice cream time?" She asked, hopping a bit in place.

"Yep, now c'mon." Nova said as they all began to go out.

Roland always liked going outside, it's just that everyone and then he has to keep an eye out for any baddies. If that happened, he'd want to take whatever sibling was with him and make sure they're out of harm's way. That's just how he is. Sprx lagged a bit as Antauri spoke to him about something.

Penny held onto Sprx's hand when he caught up as she went on and on about all sorts of random things. When they finally got there, the four ordered their choices and sat down. Penny noticed a juke box and gasped lightly.

"Nova! Nova! There's the big music box over there." She said, pointing to it.

"It's called a juke box." Nova said as she stood up.

"A juice box?"

"No-never mind."

Sprx snickered as they went off. Roland nibbled the strawberry sundae before Sprx cleared his throat.

"So uh...you've looked at the battle records huh?" He asked, causing Roland to groan.

"Look it's not like it scared me-!"

"I know some of the ones Antauri was concerned about won't, you're a pretty tough kid. It's just there's some that's not suitable...for anyone really...the early stages of the war has been pretty gruesome." Sprx explained.

Roland crossed his arms.

"I wasn't even looking at those files..." He grumbled softly.

"I know but still you should ask one of us in case you get curious again. Just so you won't come across anything too...well much."

Roland sighed but nodded.

"Okay...I guess I can do that. I just don't want anyone to hide the real world from me."

Sprx was silent for a moment. They need to tell them about their mom soon.

"Don't worry kid, we won't."

Roland looked up at him before going back to his ice cream. They better not.

Sprx smiled and continued to eat his ice cream.

"So...can Mandarin's chest thingies fit anyone in there?" Roland asked, eyeing Sprx with a smirk.

"You're not hiding in there." Nova huffed as she and Penny came back.

"Come on! It would be funny! Just to pop out of there while Gibson is talking to him would be hilarious!" Roland begged.

"Not to Mandarin, you know how he is right now." Nova said, sitting back down.

"He could still be up to it."

Sprx shook his head.

"Roland if you tried that you'd give both him and Gibson a heart attack so don't." He said.

It would be pretty funny though.

Penny kicked her legs back and forth, listening to the music.

"Would Manny be okay coming out here? I think he'd like the Cookies and Cream flavor." Penny said.

"Sweets make him sick Pen. Besides we don't know if he'd be up to it yet." Nova explained.

"Why?" Penny asked curiously.

"Because...um...he's still a bit...scared."

Penny sadly nodded before sipping her milkshake. Poor guy.

Roland bit his lip and thought for a good minute about this before continuing to eat.

"So! How was language arts today?" Nova asked.

"We read the spider book again, I really like the long brown ones." Penny chirped.

* * *

I love these two kiddos so much, anyway thanks for reading!  
-


	7. Chapter 7

Hey sorry for not posting twice a week last week and for this update to be so late, school got nuts. Hopefully by May it'll be a bit better but still please enjoy!

* * *

Otto curled up next to Mandarin, who slept soundlessly. He heard that Chiro, Antauri, and Sprx couldn't find the other children, which scared the others greatly. This meant that Skeleton King was already preparing them for battle and they need to prepare. They already began constructing plans for when they invade and figuring out a way to clear their heads of Skeleton king's lies.

Otto rubbed Mandarin's head gently, feeling so bad for him. His poor babies were being used for war and Mandarin wanted to save them so badly. His chest warmed when Mandarin made small sleepy noises before nuzzling into the covers a bit more. He smiled and pulled up the covers a bit more. To Otto he was so darn cute.

He then eyed Mandarin's stomach, normally Mandarin would be too uncomfortable for anyone to touch his stomach. At night however while Mandarin slept Otto would usually interact with the twins before he fell asleep. He crawled down through the covers, making sure he didn't wake Mandarin up. Otto placed a hand on his bump and rubbed it gently.

"Hi tinies." He whispered gently.

He already grew attached to them, Otto wanted to share name ideas with Mandarin but he doesn't even know when yet. Aw well, maybe he'll bring it up tomorrow morning. He stroked his stomach a bit more before getting ready to move back up when he felt something off as his hand was about to leave. Otto quickly placed his hand back onto Mandarin's stomach. He felt something kick against his hand and his face lit up. They were kicking! At least one of them was.

"Hi in there, I don't know which one of you is kicking but hi." He said softly, a wide smile on his face .

Suddenly he heard some groaning and thought Mandarin was having a nightmare. However when Otto went up to him, he was just waking up.

"Did you poke me?" Mandarin grumpily asked.

"No." Otto replied, shaking his head.

Mandarin stared at him before looking down at his stomach.

"Oh they were just moving then." He said before yawning.

Otto smiled and nodded.

"One of them was...sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"No you're fine...as long as it was you." Mandarin mumbled, scratching his chin.

Otto swore he felt his face growing warm but he shook that off. He covered his mouth to silence his giggles.

"They literally just kicked you awake." Otto teased.

"Trust me I've been kicked awake several times before...it's quite rude actually." He huffed.

Otto s patted his shoulder.

"They can't help it."

"I know..." Mandarin sighed, resting a hand on his abdomen.

Otto curled up with him.

"So is it too early for names?" He asked.

"Mm, let's figure that out after we find out the sexes. It will be easier for me that way." Mandarin said.

Otto nodded and curled up even closer with him. He wanted to talk to him a bit more, but he knew Mandarin needed his sleep. The door then opened as Roland entered the room with several blankets.

"Roland? What are you doing up?" Otto asked, sitting up.

"My room got too hot." He groggily explained..

Mandarin tried to ignore the growing fear as he got closer. Roland glanced at him before looking back at Otto.

"Is the air conditioner out again?" Otto asked, receiving a nod.

"I'll fix it up again in the morning."

Roland nodded and sat on the bed.

"Can I sleep here tonight? It's really cool in here." He said.

Otto smiled and nodded.

"Sure, careful he's a giant heater." He said, motioning to Mandarin.

Roland laughed a bit.

"Maybe I should have him in my room when the heater goes out." He joked.

Mandarin looked off to the side a bit. Roland looked around, seeing as his joke didn't really mesh well with Mandarin.

"So where should I...?" His voice trailed off.

Otto patted the pillows.

"Right up here, just so that Mandarin's big arms won't crush you."

Roland nodded and went to the other side of the bed and crawled up onto the pillows. He eyed Mandarin nervously, knowing how sensitive he was.

If this was a month ago, Mandarin would be flipping out but right now? He only felt a bit sick and shaky. Roland rested on the pillows.

"Night." Otto chirped before turning over and falling asleep almost instantly.

Roland and Mandarin were silent. Roland closed his eyes and turned over, attempting to fall asleep as quickly as Otto did. However that was proven impossible as always.

"Erghh I hate not sleeping right away." He grumbled, turning over to face Mandarin.

Mandarin nodded, he understood that. Especially in the past few months from lack of sleep.

Roland shuffled under the covers and looked up at him.

"So uh you have trouble sleeping instantly too?" He asked, putting one arm under the pillow.

More like trouble sleeping period. Mandarin nodded a bit.

"Yeah me too. Sometimes it takes me up to an hour to sleep. It's dumb."

"I-it takes me up t-to at le-least t-two...or more recently." Mandarin stammered.

Roland sucked in some air through his teeth.

"Man that sucks. I don't want to try to sleep for that long." He said.

"Y-you still need your sleep." Mandarin reminded him.

"I know but if it takes me that long to sleep then I'd give up." Roland said.

Mandarin silently agreed. Roland was genuinely surprised at himself for talking to him as much as he was.

"Usually when I have trouble sleeping I just get a snack or watch some tv. There's a lot of funny shows late at night." Roland told him.

Mandarin perked his head up a bit.

"There's the late night show with Mr. Celsius, The Bad Terries, and my personal favorite is Boiled Blood. That's the show where we see people get into fights and get super mad." Roland listed, his eyes lighting up.

Mandarin got into a more comfortable position and smiled a bit, he felt happy when he saw how excited Roland was.

"Don't tell the others, I'm not allowed to watch those."

Mandarin nodded, making a mental note to at least start watching the shows with him. Just so that he could watch over in case anything too intense came up.

Roland then laid on his back and looked up at Mandarin..

"So what about you? What shows do you watch?" He asked.

Mandarin gulped, finding it hard to speak again.

"I-I don't watch..."

"Really? Huh, I thought you'd seen at least one show. Maybe when we're having trouble sleeping...we can...I dunno watch something." Roland grumbled.

Mandarin nodded, that does sound nice. Roland lifted his head up.

"So what about you? What helps you sleep?" He asked, wondering to himself why he was so full of questions tonight.

Mandarin thought on it for a second, his fear and anxiety wanting him to shut up.

"I-I guess...tea and...Otto.." He admitted, his face flushing a bit.

Roland couldn't help but smirk a bit as he nodded.

"Alright, understandable. He is a cuddle bug and I don't like tea but I can get that." He said, knowing that Mandarin is into Otto.

 _"Otto usually helps make it for me and gets me what I need...I can't thank him enough for that."_ Mandarin thought.

That and he was great to vent to, especially after nightmares and moments of instability. Otto would always comfort him and cheer him up. He was so...perfect.

Roland smirked a bit more, seeing him smile while thinking.

"You like him don't you?" He teased.

Mandarin's face flushed more and he sunk deeper into the bed.

"G-go to sleep Roland." He grumbled.

Roland shrugged.

"Alright, ain't anything wrong with that. Just asking." He defended before turning over.

"Night."

"N-night."

Roland nuzzled under the covers and began to fall asleep. Mandarin stared at him for a moment before looking down at his stomach, flinching as one of the twins began kicking. He stroked his belly gently, attempting to soothe them. He felt intense love for them as he began to realize he would never have to just leave them here and go back down to that hell hole. He could be here and actually raise and care for them. The thought of that alone sent Mandarin's hormones into overdrive as he teared up. He placed a hand over his mouth as he silenced his sobs. He didn't want to wake Roland up and he certainly didn't want to wake up Otto. However he did feel Roland roll over closer to him, either in his sleep or just hearing his sniffles. Mandarin wiped his eyes and sighed briefly as the kicking lightened up. He closed his eyes and began to fall asleep, ignoring the light snores of Roland.

Until an hour or so later they were woken up by Erin's teething.

* * *

"I don't know I think it would look better in blue." Maurice said, looking over Kuzon's shoulder.

"You always say blue. I think we should go with orange." Kuzon suggested, holding up a piece of paper filled with color pallets.

"Why orange? Blue is more calming and relaxing." Maurice argued.

"It's the color of sadness. Orange is more uplifting and positive."

Maurice sighed with frustration. It has only been a week after Roland and Antauri's argument, and it seemed to be patched up but then again Maurice wasn't witnessed to it.. He and Kuzon were working on a piece of art for Erin's room but they had different ideas on what colors they should use.

"I get that but we need something that'll calm him down when he's trying to sleep, not energize him." Maurice pointed out as Erin rolled over onto his stomach in his crib and stared at the two.

"That's red. Orange is just more positive and inviting." Kuzon pointed out, now growing frustrated himself.

"And yellow isn't?"

"Yellow's always bright and happy!" Kuzon huffed.

Erin gnawed on a cold toy, soothing his sore gums.

"Baba?" He questioned, tilting his head.

"Maybe we could use both?" Kuzon suggested.

"Ugh! That sounds so awful! Blue and orange!" Maurice gagged.

"They're complimentary colors and they go together. Besides it's better than just picking one color." Kuzon huffed before looking at the easel.

"We should just use all of them. That'd be good." Kuzon sighed.

"Then what's the point of using one color then?!" Maurice demanded, frustrated.

Erin giggled at their arguing. Maurice frowned at him.

"And you find this funny?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

"Abee." Erin giggled.

Kuzon snickered and looked back at Maurice.

"Maybe we should let Erin decide." He said before picking up the paper with colors on them.

"He's a baby Kuzon." Maurice pointed out.

"Still..." Kuzon held out the paper.

"Erin, what color for your picture would you like?" He asked.

Erin stared at the paper, fascinated by the many colors. He tried to grab for the whole paper but was unable to. He frowned a bit before looking at the paper again. One color caught his eye and he tried to grab for the paper, his hand trying to grab the color. Kuzon took it back and looked at what he was trying to grab.

"Pink? You want pink?" He asked looking back at Erin.

Erin drooled a bit but tried to grab for him. Kuzon and Maurice looked at each other and shrugged.

"Guess he likes pink." He said before grabbing the pink paint.

"Guess so." Maurice said as Kuzon began to paint a pink caterpillar.

"Listen sorry about snapping at you." Maurice said.

"Nah you're fine."

Mandarin meanwhile was eating his breakfast as Otto sat next to him.

"So later I was thinking we'd go and make the nursery...we need colors first and Kuzon and Maurice have the color pallets." Otto said as Mandarin nodded.

Mandarin sighed as he finished his plate and began to put it away. He noticed that his stomach stuck out more than usual. He rested a hand on it as Otto went up to him and clung to his leg.

"Four more months to go." He sang with a smile.

"Four? Oh it's the fifth month already?" Mandarin asked, rubbing his head.

"Yeah." Otto said, frowning a bit.

Mandarin closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

"Sorry my sense of time for my pregnancies have been really off ever since I left the lab." He said.

Otto nodded, that's understandable.

"I'll go get the pallets." Mandarin offered.

"You sure? Because I know you still aren't entirely..."

Mandarin turned and patted Otto's head.

"I'll be fine. You go on ahead and wait for me down in the other kitchen."

Otto nodded and went down to the underground base. Mandarin placed his dishes in the sink before following.

* * *

"These are really good." Maurice complimented as Kuzon continued to paint.

"Thanks, I'm gonna put this up next to the playpen so it can dry." Kuzon said.

Maurice nodded and sat down in the rocking chair. The door then opened as Mandarin entered. Erin quickly lifted his head up as he smiled and babbled loudly. Completely forgetting what he came here for, Mandarin nervously went over to Erin and stroked his cheek. He couldn't just ignore him, that would be rude.

"H-hello..." He greeted.

Erin squealed as he tried to grab for Mandarin's finger.

Kuzon looked up to him and smiled.

"Wow he really likes you." He said, setting his paintbrush down in a cup of water.

Mandarin looked back at him before looking at Erin. The infant babbled loudly as he turned his head over to Maurice, since he couldn't see him out of his right eye. Maurice hooped up from his seat and went next to Mandarin, who started to feel sick again from fear.

"Yeah he does." He said before eyeing Mandarin's stomach.

It has gotten bigger and he wasn't surprised given Mandarin's increased appetite. Still he was still so large now, it was a bit worrisome to him. Yet he didn't want to be rude.

Mandarin felt one of the twins kick harshly and it did everything in his power not to flinch and touch his abdomen. Maurice noticed his slight flinch and frowned.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Mandarin froze but nodded.

"Of course." He said, a bit too quickly.

Maurice frowned as Kuzon got up.

"Okay! Finished! Now to place it over there until Otto puts in a nail." He said before placing it on a shelf.

Mandarin looked at the painting as it was set up.

"Th-that's really nice." He said softly.

Kuzon smiled proudly.

"Thank you, I knew he liked caterpillars so I figured that's what he would want.".

Maurice nodded and looked at Erin, who was still clinging to Mandarin's finger.

"He didn't get a lot of new things when he came here. He got a lot of our old stuff so we figured he should at least get something new." He said.

Damn it Hyperforce! You have raised them so well! Yet still he still felt bad. Mandarin dropped off these children a few at a time when their aging was out of control. So they had to act fast and get what the kids needed. Mandarin would have to ask the team while they're out to get Erin new things. Maybe for the other kids too. Then again he can't just buy them things they don't need but at the same time he felt like he wanted to do something about this.

He could go himself but Skeleton King would find him and force him to go back into the labs. Mandarin shook at the thought of going back there, his anxiety increasing.

"Um Mandarin? You've been staring off into the distance for a minute." Maurice said, a bit worried.

Mandarin shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts, t before looking down at him.

"O-oh sorry." He said as Erin cooed.

Kuzon tilted his head, sensing his discomfort.

"What were you thinking about?" He asked.

Mandarin gulped.

"J-just things..." He said, causing Maurice to frown a bit.

 _"Things?"_ He thought.

Kuzon nodded, not wanting to press on.

"Okay, so uh do you want something like this too? I can paint one of those pickles you like to eat so much." Kuzon said, making Maurice snicker.

Mandarin quickly shook his head.

"Oh no y-you don't-!"

"It's okay! Besides you're kinda like us. Showed up here with nothing but was taken in and cared for anyway." Kuzon said as Maurice nodded.

 _"Don't you dare start crying! Don't! You! Dare!"_ Mandarin's mind screamed at him as he felt a lump growing in his throat.

When Mandarin was silent, Kuzon picked up the color pallets.

"So which color do you want?" He asked with a smile.

Mandarin looked down at Erin, who looked up at his mommy with a smile and a cold toy in his mouth.

"P-purple would be nice." He said as Maurice nodded slightly.

Meanwhile Otto sat in the other kitchen, listening to the conversation. He knew he would be spending time with his kids. That was his hidden motive for coming down here after all. From the sounds of it, his plan seemingly worked.

* * *

Antauri was watching the children play video games together while the others were off doing their own duties. Mandarin was resting in his room for the time being and Otto was resting with him. Antauri watched tensely as Roland huffed over losing before snickering as Kuzon made a terrible pun.

"Antauri? You okay?" A voice suddenly asked.

Antauri looked up at Chiro as he sat down next to him. He must have noticed the concerned look on his face as he was watching them.

Antauri hesitated, unsure of how to express what he was thinking at first.

"I'm alright, just a little concerned about Roland is all." He explained.

"Why?" Chiro asked, tilting his head.

Antauri kept looking at Roland, not sure how to put this gently.

"I'm...worried about what will happen to him as he grows older." Antauri said softly.

Chiro looked towards Roland as he kept playing his game.

"You mean with his anger issues? Don't worry we'll find ways to control his temper." Chiro assured the silver monkey.

"That's not it." Antauri said, clenching his hands together.

Chiro frowned, confused. Antauri was silent for a moment.

"I'm worried that Roland will one day become like Mandarin." He said.

Chiro leaned back a bit in shock.

"What? Come on Antauri that won't happen!" He objected.

Antauri looked at him worriedly.

"But he is so much like him! From his temper to his cynical nature to-"

"Yeah maybe a little bit, but he's not gonna be like his mother Antauri." Chiro assured him.

Antauri eyed Roland again, unsure. There has been so many hints and moments similar to what Mandarin was like before his corruption started to set in. Kindhearted, ill tempered, cynical….it was just worrying to see so many of those traits into one of his offspring.

Chiro placed a hand on Antauri's shoulder.

"Antauri you want to know how I know he won't become like Mandarin? Us." He said, placing a hand on Antauri's shoulder.

Antauri looked up at him while Chiro smiled.

"I don't know how Mandarin became corrupted, but we can make sure it doesn't happen again with Roland. Besides I think the little guy's too kindhearted to want to take over Shugazoom, heck I don't think it ever crossed his mind, he's only eight." Chiro explained, chuckling at the last part.

Antauri thought on what he said before smiling. He does have a point, he shouldn't doubt Roland like that.

"If it'll make you feel better, we can just keep an eye on him when he gets in his teen years. Juuuust in case." Chiro said before snickering.

Antauri smiled and nodded. Roland suddenly jumped up and cheered.

"I am the ultimate racer champion!" He yelled in joy, raising his arms in victory.

"Oh come on! You only got into first place because of the super items!" Angela snapped, crossing her arms.

"Sounds like loser talk!"

"Loser talk?!" Angela sputtered.

"Alright you two calm down." Chiro said before joining them. Antauri chuckled before they started playing again. Chiro was growing up so well.

* * *

The next day Angela grabbed her wallet with her allowance money in it. It was time for another fun outing. This time they were stopping by a small store, the arcade, and then the park, which Angela was looking forward to going to. Skeleton king hasn't bothered them in quite sometime, which was great considering how scared she was of him.

As she put on her prosthetic leg and left her room, she noticed Mandarin giving a sheet of paper to the team.

"Just get him these." He said.

"Alright sounds good. Are you going to be okay being here by yourself? We got defenses up just in case you want to go out." Chiro offered.

"I'll be fine." Mandarin quickly said.

Angela frowned a bit. What were they talking about now? If he wanted them to get something for him, he should come with them. It'd be more fun and the citizens could warm up to him. Angela went up to the others.

"Hey Ange, are you ready to go?" Sprx asked.

Angela nodded and looked up at Mandarin.

"You want to come too? I'm sure Roland wouldn't mind showing you that zombie game that he likes playing." She said.

Mandarin stiffened.

"Uh actually Angela that may not be the best idea." Nova said cautiously.

Angela frowned.

"Why? He's not as scared as he was before." She pointed out.

Antauri floated down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That may be true, but he is still unable to go outside at this moment. His mental state is still shaky." He explained.

Angela blinked before she began to think.

"Maybe if we got him out there for a few minutes maybe we can start off from there?" Angela suggested.

"I don't know..."

"It's not that."

Everyone turned to a shaken Mandarin.

"He's out there...waiting for me to leave the robot so that he could...he could capture me and t-take me-!" He said before his breathing shuttered.

The team surrounded him as Otto climbed up on him. Angela started to feel sick. What was going on?!

"No! No that is not going to happen! You are not going back down there." Chiro assured him.

Angela gulped, guilt filling her. She tried to go up to him.

"B-besides! We could always have someone guarding you." She said.

"He could still capture me! He always finds a way!" Mandarin snapped.

Angela backed up at the volume of his voice, eyes wide.

 _"Way to go genius! You yelled at her! She has no idea what happened in that lab and can't even fathom what you're going through right now! Good job!"_ A part of Mandarin yelled at him.

"I-I didn't mean-" Angela stuttered, tearing up but Nova put a hand out, signaling her to wait.

What has she done? He was suffering and she made it worse! She completely forgot how badly Skeleton King screwed him up and she didn't even know the extent on what he did.

Otto stroked his face.

"It'll be fine, we won't let that happen. We'd fight tooth and nail before you'd end up back there." He said soothingly.

"It could still happen, I'd be placed back down there and then-!" Mandarin wheezed.

"No, no stop talking like that!" Chiro scolded.

During the midst of chaos, Angela quickly high tailed back into her room, not wanting to make anything worse.

"Mandarin it's okay, you're safe here...you and your babies are safe..." Otto said softly, resting his forehead against his.

Mandarin shakily sighed as he settled down. The team also sighed in relief.

"You feel better now?" Otto asked, stroking his face.

Mandarin nodded slightly, gathering his thoughts together.

"Is your stomach in any pain?" Gibson asked, making sure that Mandarin wasn't going into an early labor.

"No..." Mandarin said, quickly gathering his attention on Angela.

 _"Go! Go comfort your daughter! She needs you!"_ That part of Mandarin yelled.

"Angela-" Chiro began before realizing she was gone.

"Where did she go?" He questioned.

"Her...her room I think." Mandarin said.

Jinmay's heart dropped.

"Ohh you don't think she feels guilty do you? I mean...she doesn't know." She said softly.

Mandarin bit his lip, feeling even more guilty for snapping at her. He couldn't stand this, feeling so guilty. Angela and her siblings were still in the dark about him being their mother and what Skeleton King has done.

"Maybe it's time then." He suggested.

The team looked at him.

"I mean...Maurice is wondering who dropped them off here and they clearly have no idea what happened so...so maybe it is time to tell them." Mandarin said.

The team thought on this. Nova was silent for a moment, remembering something she should have told the others earlier.

"Penny's starting to ask questions too." Nova admitted, getting the attention of everyone else.

"She is?" Antauri asked.

Nova nodded and looked down.

"Last night as I was putting her to bed, she began to ask who her mommy and daddy were." She explained, remembering the innocence in the girl's eyes.

"Wouldn't she have considered us her parents?" Otto asked, scratching his head.

"I guess she would have but considering her siblings keep talking about it I guess she caught on."

Mandarin looked down, knowing what that answer would have been.

"What did you tell her?" Antauri asked.

Nova took a breath.

"I said we didn't see her parents drop her off here but we have a few ideas on who they'd be." She said.

Sprx crossed his arms and tilted his head a bit.

"So you basically both lied and didn't lie to her." He said, making sure he was hearing her correctly.

Nova huffed and placed her hands on her hips. It wasn't like she didn't have any other options!

"What was I supposed to say? Your mom is just down the hall?"

"No...I just don't like lying to her." Sprx said, feeling bad.

Antauri closed his eyes and thought on the situation. They were getting curious about their origins and that was to be expected. They've always skipped around the idea of telling them because of their reactions but at the same time they can't keep putting it off either.

"We all don't and maybe it is time. However we can't do that today, we'll have to figure out a day where we can tell them." He explained.

He received a few nods, some just silently agreed. Mandarin looked towards Angela's door, his body and mind screaming that he should go in there and talk to her. He needs to stop being afraid of her and be an actual parent. It has to stop.

"So who's going to talk to Angela?" Otto asked.

Before anyone could say anything, Otto was set down by Mandarin as he went to the door.

"Mandarin?"

"Just...give me a minute." He said before going in there.

* * *

Oooooh hope things get better for them. Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Hey welcome back! Now I know I've been throwing out feels left and right but here? This chapter right here? This was the chapter that I teared up to while writing...that should give you an idea on how feelsy this chapter is. Please enjoy!

* * *

Angela sniffled as she laid on her bed, clutching her pillow. She wiped her eyes, internally yelling at herself.

 _"Stupid idiot! You just had to give him a panic attack didn't you?!"_ She internally scolded as she dug her face deeper into the pillow.

Angela didn't even hear the door open as Mandarin entered. His heart broke as he saw her crying into her pillow. He sat down on the floor next to her bed and turned to her. Angela sniffled a bit more before lifting her head at him before quickly putting back down.

"Don't, I'll only make it worse." She sniffled.

It broke his heart even more to hear this coming from her.

"N-no you didn't...you didn't know h-how bad Skeleton King..."

"I didn't think it would be this bad! I didn't know that even mentioning going outside would give you a panic attack!" Angela snapped, lifting her head.

"Which is why no one is upset with you. You didn't mean to..." Mandarin's voice trailed off.

Angela sniffled as she placed her head back on the pillow.

"You have no idea what he's done and how badly it...how badly it affected me..."

Angela lifted her head up, frowning.

"Then what did he do? Because all I'm getting other than him transforming you is nothing! Whenever I ask about it they keep saying I'll find out one day but that day never comes! I just...I want to understand...I want to understand what happened." She croaked before resting her head on the pillow.

Mandarin froze up when she said that, thinking over what he should say to her. He wasn't going to lie to her, but at the same time he wasn't going to tell her the truth either.

"You're going to find out pretty soon actually." He said, causing her sniffling to stop.

He looked off to the side, this was pretty hard.

"I don't think it's a good idea to hide what h-happened anymore. S-so we'll find a day to sit down and...explain everything." Mandarin said.

Angela's posture straightened at that. She was going to get answers on why he's like this, maybe she can understand so she can help better! Finally! She nodded.

"Alright I'm up for that. Uh...do my siblings have to go too?" She asked.

Mandarin paused briefly before nodding. Angela frowned a bit, why do they need to come too? She'll know when she gets there hopefully.

"I'm still sorry..."

"No, don't apologize. You did nothing wrong." Mandarin huffed.

Angela sniffled and wiped her eyes. She was actually suprised he didn't stutter this time, however she didn't want to make that noticable.

"I'll someday feel comfortable to go outside again. I just need to fully feel that I will be safe." He continued.

She wanted to tell him that he will but she knew it wasn't about facts, it was more about how he feels. Angela nodded and curled up with him, almost instinctively. Mandarin couldn't help but flinch but after a moment placed a hand on her back.

"Do you feel better now?" He asked.

Angela nodded and looked up at him.

"You?" She asked, receiving a nod.

She rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes. She felt much better. After a while Angela got up.

"So uh are you sure you want to stay here by yourself? I mean I could stay." She offered.

Mandarin shook his head.

"No I don't want you to miss out o-on anything because of me." He said.

Angela nodded, still kind of wanting to stay with him for some reason. She didn't know why she felt so close with him but she did. She wiped her eyes a bit more before hopping off her bed as the two left the room. Angela was immediately hugged by Otto as the others went up to the two.

"Hey kiddo...are you okay?" Sprx asked.

Angela nodded.

"Yeah, sorry about worrying you."

"No, don't. It's fine now, today's gonna be fun." Chiro said.

Mandarin watched them before noticing Otto smiling widely at him. He blushed and looked away.

"He's doing so good!" Otto thought.

The team soon left as Mandarin went back into his room to rest for now. Throughout the day though, Violet was complaining about having headaches for some reason and even though she took some medicine for it, there was still a weird tingly sensation in her head. She just couldn't figure out what it was.

* * *

Violet tossed and turned for most of the night, feeling like crap. It was mostly her head but she just couldn't get to sleep. After a while she gave up and went over to her desk so she could read. She grabbed a science book and began to read it when a powerful sensation in her head flashed and she nearly let out a yell and clutched it.

 _"Mommy!"_

Was that her voice? Was this a memory she repressed? If she remembered correctly she was almost a toddler when she came here so that wouldn't be surprising but...was she remembering her mother? Her family? Another sensation, this time she remembered a dark place with only a hole of light nearby and a small bed. Her room? What was going on?!

She felt her breathing labor and she knew she had to get out and quickly before she woke anyone up. Violet rushed out of her room and into the bathroom. She shut the door and sat down, a cold sweat taking over her. All of a sudden, memories just start flooding back as tears welled up in her eyes.

She remembered.

* * *

 _Violet was born into the lab and in an attempt to try to keep the children away from the robots without the Hyperforce's involvement her mother kept her hidden in her...no his room under some floorboards. He always gave her food and water as well as a comfortable place to sleep on. He even drilled a hole to make a bathroom for her. She was told to stay in there during the day and come out only at night when the robots were shut off to recharge._

 _Violet hated the robots, they always yelled at mom and were scary. Her mother wasn't, he never yelled or was scary to her and she loved him very dearly._

 _Violet looked at the hole, knowing that it was nighttime as the floorboard opened up._

 _"They gone?" She asked as a large purple hand picked her up._

 _"They just shut off so we have until six." Mandarin said, less mentally broken than when he came to the robot._

 _Violet grinned and bobbed her head against Mandarin's. She had no idea what six meant but that was a lot of time to her. They peeked outside before leaving. She loved it when it's nighttime. Not only was it super cool that everything that this dark blue light but she also spent time with mommy._

 _Violet was set in her chair before she saw Mandarin pull out a carton of orange juice._

 _"Are you thirsty?" He asked._

 _Violet quickly nodded, patting the table with her small hands. Mandarin smiled before pouring it into a bottle and giving it to her. They didn't have sippy cups and Violet wasn't ready to drink out of a regular glass yet so this is all they have for now. She didn't mind though. Mandarin sat across from her as he got himself something to eat. He was eight months pregnant and it was getting harder for him to lean down to pick her up._

 _"I see broders n sisters 'gain?" Violet asked._

 _Mandarin froze a bit._

 _"Erm it's getting hard to get in there, the robots will think I'm breaking them out but...sure." He said._

 _Violet smiled and continued to sip her drink, kicking her legs up and down. After Mandarin was finished eating they began to go towards the place where her siblings were supposedly kept. Violet whimpered when she saw the robots all lined up, shut off. Mandarin noticed this and rubbed her back with his finger._

 _"You don't have to look at them, just dig your face into my chest until we pass them." He said._

 _Violet did so and continued whimpering. After a while she felt Mandarin stop._

 _"Okay we're away from them now."_

 _Violet lifted her head as they were in front of large heavy doors. Mandarin went over to the control panel and eyed his surroundings as he put the code to unlock the door in. They always come up with new ones but Mandarin made sure to read what they were typing. The doors unlocked and opened, revealing the several monkey sized tubes. In them were several deactivated robot monkeys of various colors. Violet hopped down and ran towards a pink one with black eyes._

 _"Hi Artmes!" She said, when she was trying to say Artemis._

 _"Hi Oscy!" She greeted a Violet robot monkey with black eyes._

 _"Hi Trixie and Cosmo!" She greeted two green robot monkeys, one with blue eyes and one with red eyes._

 _"And hi Jessy, Janice, Jerica, and Jamie!" She waved to four red robot monkeys._

 _She stopped and turned to Mandarin._

 _"Why'd you give em J names?" She huffed, making Mandarin snicker._

 _"It has a nice ring to it Violet." He said._

 _Violet nodded before looking back at them. She knew there were probably more but she didn't know where they were._

 _"Mommy, when can they come out?" She asked, looking back at Mandarin._

 _Mandarin flinched and looked down._

 _"I...I'm not sure yet. We're not allowed for them to wake up yet." He choked._

 _"Why?" Violet asked curiously._

 _Mandarin opened his mouth but closed it quickly and touched his stomach._

 _"They...they won't let us. I want them to but...when they wake up they're going to be forced to go somewhere else and the Hyperforce will help them."_

 _Violet's ears perked up when she heard the Hyperforce._

 _"They will? Will they be safe from Skelly?" She asked._

 _Mandarin nodded._

 _"And the Hyperforce will put a stop to Skeleton King and allow us to be safe with them." He said, unsure of the last part._

 _Violet smiled widely before looking back at her siblings._

 _"Good! I hate the robots!" She giggled._

 _"Me too dear."_

 _A month later and Mandarin went into labor, having Violet to be put in the floorboards for nearly the whole day and night. She knew the robots would still be up for a bit longer taking care of the new baby, but she hated it when she can't come out. She waited and waited and waited until it was really dark out. Violet didn't hear the robots zipping by or talking anymore so she assumed they'd be gone by now. She opened the floorboards and looked around. No one in sight. Still this was pretty scary, she didn't have her mom with her. Violet crept out of the room and looked around._

 _"Mommy?" She whispered, seeing no one in sight._

 _She walked down the hall, nervous until she sat the line of robots . She jumped when she saw them and hid behind a trashcan. Violet peeked out and saw that they were all deactivated. She sighed and kept searching until she came across a room with lights on. She peeked under the door to see a bed or something and something else with wheels. Violet pushed on the door and saw her mom looking into a clear tub of some sort. He turned to her._

 _"Violet it's almost four am." He said._

 _Violet entered the room and looked around._

 _"No robots?" She asked._

 _Mandarin shook their head._

 _"No they're off for the night but they'll be up at eight." He said._

 _Violet nodded before hopping up onto the bed. She noticed her mom's previous large stomach had deflated and looked at the tub._

 _"Is that my new brother?" She asked, smiling slowly._

 _Mandarin nodded and pushed the tub a little closer to them. There laid a light blue baby monkey, sleeping. Violet smiled as she peered at him._

 _"He's so tiny." She whispered._

 _Mandarin nodded._

 _"Maybe tomorrow night you can hold him, they won't work on him until the day after."_

 _Violet's smile dropped._

 _"Aww I wanted to play with him." She huffed._

 _Mandarin stroked her head._

 _"I know dear but it has to be like this for now. Remember the Hyperforce will help him when he's taken." He explained._

 _"I hope so...can't he live like me?" She asked._

 _Mandarin sighed and closed his eyes._

 _"Violet they'd get suspicious if too many babies are mysteriously disappearing. As much as I don't like it, it has to be like this for now."_

 _Violet nodded sadly and crawled next to him._

 _"Are they gonna take me away?" She asked, suddenly scared._

 _Mandarin kissed the top of her head._

 _"I'll do my best to make sure they won't and if they did...I'll get you out and away from here."_

 _Violet sniffled but nodded._

 _"What's his name?" Violet asked after a while._

 _"Maximus."_

 _A week later Violet was woken up by loud noises. She sat up as she heard Mandarin and the robots._

 _"I swear I don't have anyone else in here!" Mandarin urged, sounding a tad different than usual._

 _"The cameras said otherwise! Now where are you keeping Vi-27?!" One of the robots growled._

 _Violet's stomach lurched as she backed away from the floor board opening._

 _"She died! She had difficulty breathing and she died an hour after you deactivated!" Mandarin yelled._

 _"Don't lie to us!" Violet heard a loud smacking sound and she nearly yelped._

 _"We know you have her, now where is she?!" The robot demanded._

 _She felt one of the robots wheels come upon the floorboard and she covered her mouth to since her breathing._

 _"Don't let them find me, don't let them find me don't let them find me, please don't let them find me!" She thought, tears welling up._

 _It got quiet._

 _"Sir I found a heat signature underneath the floorboards." One of the robots said._

 _Violet shook as she tried to claw at the hole, trying to escape. She then felt a claw grab her from behind and held her up._

 _"Found you!" The robot cheered._

 _She saw Mandarin being held by two larger robots as the leader of them, who had black stripes over him went up to her. One side of Mandarin's face appeared to be bruised._

 _"Mommy help!" Violet screamed._

 _"Thought you'd hide from us didn't you? Well your mommy was a fool to think he could keep you hidden from your destiny." The robot said, clenching her face._

 _Mandarin growled and tried to struggle his way out._

 _"Don't touch her!" He growled._

 _The leader turned and pointed a claw at him._

 _"You better keep your mouth shut subject! Or else we'll up your punishment and put in sextuplets in you instead of triplets!" He snarled, causing Mandarin to freeze._

 _Violet tried to wriggle out of the robot's grasp._

 _"Lemme go! Lemme go you trash cans!" She snapped._

 _"Ooh a mouthy one! Don't worry, Skeleton King will whip you into shape when you and your siblings are shipped off to him." The leader said._

 _Violet growled at him and tried to kick him in the face but she was too far away._

 _"C'mon 84, let's get started with the process. Send Mandarin to the DNA samples room later." The leader said, with almost no emotion._

 _Mandarin's eyes widened as he tried to struggle to get out._

 _"Mommy!" Violet yelled as she was taken out of the room, hot tears streaming down her face._

 _"Don't worry Violet I'm coming!"_

 _Violet was slammed into a clear tube and the door was shut._

 _"84. prepare for the information dumping first and then the Skeleton King loyalitzation." The leader said leaving the room._

 _"I swear he made that word up." 84 said as he began to push a few buttons._

 _She began to bang on the glass, trying to break it as something was placed on her head. After a while she closed her eyes as a bunch of information about the labs was placed in her. It was all terrible information that a young child was not ready to learn about yet._

 _"Mommy..."_

 _A sudden crash and doors slamming woke her as what she found to be a helmet was placed off her and she saw Mandarin knocking out the robot. Violet smiled widely as more tears came into her eyes._

 _"Mommy you came back!" She exclaimed, a smile plastered on her face._

 _Mandarin went over and leaned down to her._

 _"I said I would be coming didn't I?" He said before pausing._

 _"Violet...this place is no longer safe for you. You have to go to the Hyperforce." He said, sending chills up Violet's spine._

 _"Wh-what?!" She exclaimed._

 _No, no way was she leaving! Not now, not like this! Mandarin bit his lip, clearly holding back a lot of mixed emotions._

 _"You have to go with them. They'll keep you safe and...they have a better environment for you than here with me." He choked._

 _Violet shook her head._

 _"No! No I don't wanna leave if you don't go too!" She cried._

 _Mandarin sighed heavily._

 _"You have to but I'll come back for you. I promise you won't have to be away from me forever."_

 _Violet cried as she rested her head against the glass._

 _"I don't wanna go..." She whined._

 _"Violet they're going to turn you into one of your siblings and ship you off to Skeleton King. I won't let you be a soldier in his army. You have to go." He said sternly._

 _Violet sniffled, knowing that he's right. Still leaving without him is just so awful._

 _"Promise you'll come back for me?" She asked._

 _"Of course I will." He said before pausing._

 _"How would you feel if...if I erased your memories for a while?" He asked, making Violet confused._

 _"Why?" She asked._

 _"The things you saw and heard here,I don't want any child to go through that. Just to relieve the pain until you're old enough to fight back...or when I return. Do you understand what I'm saying to you right now?" Mandarin asked._

 _Violet nodded slightly. She didn't understand all of it but she knew this has to happen. Mandarin leaned his head against the glass and closed his eyes._

 _"I love you...so much." He choked._

 _Violet leaned her head against the glass._

 _"I love you too mommy." She said softly._

 _Mandarin quickly looked around before going over to the control panel. The alarm wasn't set off due to the fact that for a while Mandarin deactivated alarms, cameras, and the robots. He made a note to erase any memory of her living here from any of the robots minds. Violet sniffled as the helmet was placed back on her head._

 _"I'll see you soon, okay?" Mandarin's voice said._

 _"Okay." She said._

* * *

That was the last memory she had of her mother before she was placed at the robot. Heavy tears were streaming down her face as Violet began sobbing. She held her face in her hands, muffling her sobs. Her mother did everything he could so she would be safe, even if that means they had to be separated. This was also proof that her siblings were blood related, or at least half blood related given the information that was pumped into her. She shakily stood up and left the bathroom, still crying. She had to find him, she had to. Violet went into Mandarin's room as he slept, Otto taking the night shift. She hopped onto the bed and went over to him, shaking him.

"Mand-" she stopped herself.

"Mom? Mom!" She urged, tears running down her face.

That woke him up as he quickly sat up and looked down at her.

"V-Violet? Wh-what are you-?" Mandarin began to ask before Violet clung to him, crying hard.

Mandarin didn't understand why she was so upset until it hit him. Her memories came back.

"I missed you so much!" She sobbed.

Emotion filled Mandarin as he held her close.

"I missed you too." He said softly.

Violet coughed as she continued crying resulting Mandarin rubbing her back.

"I thought...I thought I'd never see you again." She sniffled.

"I promised we'd see each other again. You know I wouldn't lie about that."

She smiled and snuggled up with him despite her tears still falling. She then flinched, a ton of other information pooling into her head.

"Oh wow now I remember all of that terrible information they stuck in me." Violet wheezed.

"Ugh I wish there was some way I could've gotten rid of that." Mandarin sighed.

"Yeah I don't need to know about wombs and the terrible stuff they did to you."

"Eventually you had too one day but...not like that. Not that graphic and harsh." Mandarin said.

Violet nodded. The amount of knowledge on what Skeleton King specifically did to him, adding new organs including the artificial womb, putting in specific hormones so he could carry the children till term, and most of the other information about the labs was just too much for her to take in all at once.

They stayed like that for a moment before Violet asked, "Why couldn't you've come with me? I mean the team would've helped you...we'd help everyone."

Mandarin sighed heavily.

"At the time I thought they wouldn't and I kept thinking Skeleton King would send the robots after me. Though I see now that's not the case but I had a very crushed mindset back then….now." He explained before muttering the last part.

Violet kept listening, saddened.

"They made me believe that being down there was my only purpose in life now. My punishment for failing Skeleton King, you're not." He said, not wanting to give Violet a complex.

"No I know I'm not...I really hate him." Violet grumbled.

"I do too...but that's how abuse is. It's not just physical, it's mental and emotional. Skeleton King programmed them to keep me there by any means necessary." He explained.

Violet shivered, knowing she'll never want to go through anything like that. In fact she'll make certain she won't let that happen to anyone.

"I apologize that I'm dumping all of this on you now...no child should have to know any of this." Mandarin said, regretting telling her everything he said to her before.

Violet looked up at him and smirked.

"Mom, I can handle a lot.I'm like a mini Sprx and Gibson. Also remember I actually lived there." She assured him.

"I'm aware, I just mean in general. There are so many things down there that no one should see." Mandarin pointed out.

Violet nodded and rested her head against his chest.

"It's good you're telling me this now. I mean now that I got a better picture of this I want to help a bit more. I dunno how but I want to." She said.

"Preferably not going out there and actually fighting." Mandarin said, getting chills at the thought.

"Not yet no!" Violet laughed.

There was silence before Violet asked, "Are you...are you having another baby?"

Mandarin pursed his lips.

"Twins actually."

Violet sucked in some air.

"I mean I don't want to say it makes sense now but...wow." She breathed.

Mandarin nodded.

"They just weren't satisfied were they?" Violet huffed.

"My dear it never would have ended." Mandarin shuddered.

Violet noticed how uncomfortable he was getting and wanted to change the subject.

"So uh, when are we gonna know wether they're gonna be guys or girls?"

The two talked for a bit more before Violet fell asleep, curled up on the pillows. Otto came into the room, exhausted after the night shift.

"Man it's so boring." He whined before seeing Mandarin awake.

"Hey-" He began before Mandarin shushed him.

"She just fell asleep." He said softly as Violet snored lightly.

Otto smiled a bit, happy with the scene before him.

"Aww did she come to you about a nightmare?" He asked.

Mandarin froze, causing Otto's smile to drop.

"Lay down Otto, there's something I forgot to tell you about."

* * *

Antauri waited for the kids to come for their lessons but Violet was the only one missing.

"Has anyone seen Violet?" He asked.

The kids looked at each other. Where was Violet?

"Last I've heard she was in Mandarin's room." Angela said, concern for her sister settling in.

Roland yawned and rubbed his eye.

"If we're one person short can we not have any lessons today?" He asked.

Antauri frowned.

"No it doesn't work like that." He told him.

"It should." Roland snorted, trying not to laugh.

Antauri sighed when he saw Mandarin start to walk up to him.

"Go to the training room I'll be there in a moment." He said as the kids rushed off.

He looked up at the muscled monkey.

"Yes Mandarin?"

Mandarin looked around before looking back at him.

"I apologize I don't usually ever ask this but is it alright if Violet takes the day off?" He asked.

Antauri grew a bit concerned.

"Why? Is she ill?"

"Not necessary but she had a rough night and I'll explain why later I promise I will. She's just really mentally exhausted." Mandarin said.

Antauri did notice that she seemed really out of it at breakfast and was clinging to Mandarin an awful lot. She wasn't as talkative as she usually was and kept shaking her head at points. Though she tried to pass it off as just being tired and tried to joke around. She tried to anyway.

"I guess I could. Just let her see me once she's feeling better so she can catch up." He said.

Mandarin smiled a bit.

"Thank you and I will explain why later." He said before walking off.

Antauri tilted his head a bit before going to the training room. Just what did he mean by that?

* * *

Gibson was to say very surprised when Mandarin came in with Violet. If memory serves he was scared of her the most. Now she's clinging to him and following him.

"Hi Gibs." Violet said tiredly, sitting in her usual chair.

"Hello Violet." He greeted before eyeing Mandarin.

"She had a terrible night so-" Mandarin started to explain but Gibson nodded.

"I've heard but why is she so close with you right now?" Gibson asked.

Violet and Mandarin looked at each other for a moment before looking back at him.

"Basically for a while she stayed with me at the labs. Before she came here." He said, causing Gibson's eyes to widen.

That did explain why she was a toddler when she first came here. But still the fact that she alone was down there for so long...or short given her quick growth.

"Mom had to erase my memories so I won't remember any of the stuff that happened down there but they came back last night." Violet explained, looking downcast.

Gibson felt sick at that. No wonder she was so exhausted and out of it at breakfast. For a young child to go through such travesties, he couldn't imagine how she felt.

"That's terrible." He breathed.

Violet shrugged a bit.

"Why do you think he's letting me play hooky?" She asked forcing a smirk.

"It is not that Violet. You have a legitimate reason for skipping out on lessons." Mandarin said, frowning at her.

"Still it's hooky." Violet chirped.

Gibson couldn't help but smile at their banter before setting up the ultrasound machine. Mandarin rested back as the gel was placed on his stomach. Gibson then hopped onto the table and began to move the device around. Violet wanted to look over but she felt a tad awkward and she wasn't sure why.

Gibson scoffed and shook his head.

"As usual one of them is kicking the other in the head." He huffed.

"Rude." Violet snarked.

Mandarin couldn't help but snicker. Gibson peered at him.

"Would you like to know the sexes?" He asked.

"You can tell now?" Violet asked.

Gibson nodded and waited for Mandarin's answer. Mandarin looked off to the side a bit before smiling.

"Sure, I despise surprises."

Gibson nodded and moved the device ever so slightly.

"Now...okay please move your legs." Gibson commanded at the screen, making Violet laugh.

After a moment of Gibson waiting for them to get them in the correct position he sighed.

"I bet both are girls." Violet smirked.

"You're so sure?" Mandarin asked, eyeing her.

Violet pointed outside with her thumb.

"If the others were here they'd be betting too." She said.

Gibson laughed.

"Well you're half right." He said, causing Violet to frown in confusion.

"Huh?"

"One of them is indeed female but the other one is male." He stated.

Mandarin couldn't help but feel happy at the news. Violet threw her tiny fists in the air.

"Curse my half accurate future seeing powers!" She exclaimed with fake despair.

Gibson laughed as Mandarin sat up.

"At least you were half right." He said as Gibson wiped off the gel.

"Eh true." Violet said, leaning foreward.

Gibson smiled a bit at their interactions.

"Well other than that they're doing fine. Are you still having trouble sleeping?" He asked.

Mandarin clamped his hands together nervously.

"A little bit...but it's gotten better." He said.

Gibson nodded and talked with him a bit more before Mandarin and Violet began to leave. A thought then came to Gibson's mind.

"Violet?"

Violet looked back up at Mandarin before going over to him.

"Yeah?" She asked.

Gibson paused a bit before hugging her. Violet froze before hugging back.

"If you need anyone to talk to and your mother isn't around, you know you can always come to me." He said softly.

Violet froze a bit before nodding, a lump growing in her throat.

"Okay." She said softly before running off with Mandarin.

Gibson watched her go before going back to his work, thinking over the entire situation.

* * *

Awww poor Violet! But now she remembers her mom and all the horrors of the lab...wonder how that'll pan out? Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry that these chapters are so long, but some of the stuff wouldn't make sense if some parts were cut. Still I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway...things are gonna get interesting.

* * *

After that day, Violet was very clingy towards Mandarin. It makes sense given what she and him have been through, yet sometimes it gets a bit much.

"Violet come on you can survive without Mandarin for a few hours." Nova said.

Violet looked towards Mandarin, almost panicked. The other kids watched as the team tried to get them downstairs so they can talk about how to save the other monkeys and what to do about the labs.

"Jeez what happened that made her so clingy?" Roland asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't know...she isn't telling me anything." Angela said, feeling lost as to why her sister is acting so weird.

"Same here, it's almost like she's keeping a secret." Maurice claimed, frowning.

Penny looked at him and grinned. That sounds exciting!

"I wanna know! I love secrets!" She said.

"I know you do, that's why no one tells you them. You blab them to other people." Roland chuckled.

"That was one time!" Penny huffed.

Kuzon tilted his head at the team, trying to make sense of Violet's recent behavior. So far though his brain came up with nothing. He tried to listen in on what was going on before a few times. However he couldn't really get anything out that made sense, so he was stuck confused and wondering what's going on.

"B-but I should be here too!" Violet exclaimed.

Chiro knelt down to her.

"I know you do, but this is a very serious discussion that only the adults can have. Don't worry we'll let you know what's going on." He said, eyeing the other kids.

Kuzon frowned a bit. What does that mean? Why shouldn't they know too? Kuzon was going to get to the bottom of this one way or another.

Violet looked up at Mandarin. She knows he couldn't go down with her because this very much involves him too it's just...

"What if something happens?" She asked softly.

Mandarin patted her head.

"Don't worry about it. It'll be fine we're just talking." He assured her.

"I know but what if Skeleton King..."

Mandarin shivered at just his name.

"As much as I don't like to think about it, we're fine. We're safe here." He said.

Violet nodded slightly, not totally convinced.

"Now go on down for a while, I'm sure you'd love to show everyone your cookie and jelly cake." Chiro said, smirking.

The kids shivered at that as Violet turned to them.

"Oh yeah! It's delicious you guys I swear!" She said as the kids darted towards the tubes.

As soon as they were gone Chiro turned towards Antauri.

"Antauri."

The silver monkey nodded and pressed a few buttons to show the Skeleton King castle.

"Okay the Sun Riders said they saw a few robot monkeys hanging around the castle through the bug bots Otto made." Chiro began as two pictures of robot monkeys popped up.

One of them was pink with black eyes and another was a pale yellow with light green eyes.

Otto looked up at Mandarin, who looked at the screen worriedly. Jinmay tilted her head and went over to Mandarin.

"What's their names?" She asked, trying to make him feel a bit better.

Mandarin gripped his knees a bit.

"Artemis and Reid."

Otto smiled as Jinmay nodded.

"They sound nice." Otto complimented.

"So they're at least patrolling the area or at least allowed outside. We still need to know when they're going to attack so that we'll be ready to help them." Chiro said as Gibson pulled out what seems to be a skinny blaster.

"We can hold them down using this with the holding gunk we have made. Once shot it hits it's target and grows large enough to keep them from moving." Gibson explained.

"How many have you made?" Antauri asked.

"Bullets or guns?"

"Both."

"We've made over seventy of the bullets and six guns. We can make more bullets but guns will take a bit longer." Gibson explained.

The team nodded as Otto hopped up next to Mandarin.

"That can work, we can have some of our allies to use them while we're fighting from high buildings." Nova suggested.

"Yes and in case they bring in heavy artillery, the robo apes will take those down." Sprx added.

"Just don't really hurt them."

The others turned to Mandarin, who quickly looked down.

"I apologize I didn't mean to-"

Otto crawled on him as Chiro smiled.

"Don't worry about it. We'll do our best to make sure they'll come here without any serious injuries." He said.

Mandarin stared at him before looking down a bit. Otto patted his face and sat on the top of his chest armor. Antauri cleared his throat, knowing the next topic on their list.

"Now...the labs." He said, sending chills up Mandarin's spine as images of the labs were brought up.

He had to look down, not wanting any terrible memories to come flooding back. Otto wrapped his arms around his neck and rested his head against his.

"We know from our experience down there that the robots were really upset that Mandarin was gone. Since they have weapons they'll most likely come and attack us." He said, eyeing Mandarin with concern.

He didn't want to talk about this when Mandarin was in this state, but they had too. Mandarin gulped, not wanting to hear any of this. Yet he had to stay and figure out some way to stop them. Otto stroked his head.

"Let me know if this gets too much for you okay?" Otto said softly.

Mandarin shakily nodded and looked back up.

"So what we need to figure out is how to get more information on them so that we can defeat them. We can probably hack into their systems but they may detect us." Chiro finished.

Mandarin nodded, they probably could. Antauri looked over at him.

"Are you comfortable sharing any information about the robots specifically? Other than they are shut down at night?" He asked.

Mandarin was silent for a moment.

"They...they were programmed to keep me there by any means necessary, even if that means they'll go to drastic measures. However they can't hurt me while I'm pregnant. They're not allowed to, but when I'm not...anyway anyway they won't be hard to fight once they get here. However they also have more bulky robots so those will be harder to fight." He explained, causing everyone to have a series of expressions.

Otto hugged him more, anger bubbling in his chest. Chiro felt extremely sorry for him and pursed his lips.

"Are you comfortable with telling us anything else?" Jinmay asked.

Mandarin quickly shook his head.

"N-Not anymore no. Ma-maybe later." He stuttered.

Chiro nodded.

"Okay so after we defeat the robots we'll need to figure out what to do with the lab itself."

"Burn it." Nova grunted.

Antauri frowned and shook his head.

"No we need to go down there and collect the DNA samples that were used to create the children. That way we can track them to see if Skeleton King did anything else to the donors."

"And the technology and information down there could be very important." Gibson brought up.

Mandarin shakily touched his stomach that took a lot out of him. Otto hesitated for a moment before kissing his cheek.

"We can go down now if you want." He offered.

Mandarin shook his head.

"No...no I'll be fine." He said.

Otto smiled a bit before resting his head against his.

"Then what will we do with it?" Jinmay asked.

"Well we could have it as another base or-" Antauri said before sensing something.

He looked at the middle of the room where the large transport tube was and went over to it.

"What is it?" Sprx asked, about to get his magnets out.

Antauri stared down at the floor before pressing a button to open the floor, showing the kids listening in. Mandarin immediately felt sick. How long were they listening in for?!

"Uh hi!" Penny greeted, giving the others a small wave.

"What are you guys doing? We told you to stay down in the underground base until we were done." Gibson said frowning.

"Violet wouldn't talk to us! We wanted to know what was going on and she refused to say anything!" Kuzon said, pointing at the purple monkey who looked away.

"I don't have to tell diddly squat" She huffed.

Maurice turned to Antauri.

"We got worried that something really bad is happening so that's why we were listening in." He explained.

Violet turned to Mandarin. She saw how scared he looked and went over to him.

"M-Mandarin?"

Roland glared and pointed at her.

"She's so clingy towards him and we don't know why! And what were you guys even talking about?! What other robot monkeys? What lab? What aren't you telling us?!" He demanded.

Penny worriedly turned to the team.

"Is it something bad?" She asked.

The team turned to each other.

Violet looked up at Mandarin.

"Should we tell them?" She softly asked.

Mandarin eyed Chiro, hinting that this may what they have to do. Chiro nodded slightly before turning towards the kids.

"No Penny it's not...all bad but there is a lot we need to talk to you about." He said.

The kids looked at each other again, unsure of what's going on. Whatever it is, it's serious. Chiro looked over at Sprx.

"Sprx could you get them some chairs? They may need to sit down for this." He said, causing Sprx to nod and go into the kitchen.

Roland watched Sprx as he went, growing nervous.

"I don't like this one bit!" He laughed nervously.

"Hey don't worry, you're not in trouble." Jinmay assured them as Sprx came back with a few chairs.

The kids looked at each other before sitting down in the chairs, wondering what they're about to say. Angela gulped, having a few suspicions.

"Does it involve what happened to Mandarin?" She asked, serious.

Chiro hesitated before nodding. Nova looked over at Penny.

"Penny do you remember asking me one night who your mommy and daddy were?" She asked.

Penny tilted her head, eyeing the ceiling.

"Hmm I think so." She said.

Maurice looked back between them.

"Wait does this have to do with us too?" He asked.

Nova nodded, causing the kids to look at each other. Mandarin gripped his knees and closed his eyes. Violet stood by and watched, nervous.

"You know who our parents are?" Angela asked, growing hopeful.

"Yeah we do but-"

"Who are they?!" Kuzon suddenly exclaimed, causing the kids to look at him funny.

"Sorry I just got excited."

"That's ok. Actually you all have one parent." Antauri began.

The monkey children got confused. If they have one parent then where's the other one? Violet bit her lip and fiddled with her tail. There was a small silence that to Mandarin felt like an eternity.

Antauri sighed heavily, it was now or never.

"Your mother was...in a terrible situation and had to leave all of you here with us. To keep you safe and did it out of love." He began.

"She did?" Penny asked, smiling a bit.

Antauri nodded, smiling at the reason why Mandarin brought them here. They may still have many hurt feelings towards him, but they still can't deny the fact that Mandarin loves these kids to death.

Violet almost laughed at that, not only because she had no idea what went down but also at the fact that their mother wasn't technically female.

Angela looked back at Mandarin, suddenly having a bad feeling about this.

"What does this have to do with Mandarin?" She asked, the answer to that question on the tip of her tongue.

Otto kept clutching to Mandarin. Roland looked back between the groups, frowning.

Chiro looked towards the team before looking back at them. There was no more hesitation, no more going back, and no more jumping around the subject.

"Well your mother is Mandarin." He stated.

"Seriously?!" Angela exclaimed as Kuzon placed his hands over his mouth, millions of emotions going through him.

Roland looked around, making sure no one was pranking him as a smile slowly grew on Penny's face. Maurice was stone still, color draining from his face. Roland then quickly got up.

"Okay wait! How?! He's a boy and boys don't have babies like girls do!" He pointed out.

"How do you know that?" Angela asked, disturbed.

"Shut up!" Roland hissed, holding out one finger to her.

He suddenly looked back at Mandarin and then the team and then Mandarin again.

"Wait...the bikini armor is starting to make sense!"

Violet fell to the ground, laughing.

"Roland trust us, he's a guy. Both on the outside and on the inside. They worked on his body so that he could get pregnant." Otto said.

"They? You mean Skeleton King? He did this?" Angela asked, suddenly growing pissed.

Chiro turned to Jinmay, knowing that this conversation is going to get much heavier.

"Get Penny into another room for a while, she doesn't need to hear this." He whispered but Penny heard it.

"Yes I do! I wanna hear too!" She protested before Jinmay led her away.

Violet calmed down and got up. Now it was her turn to explain.

"I'm not going to lie, yes. He used to work for Skeleton King and when he was transformed he modified his body so he could have us." She said.

"Wait how do you know?!" Angela demanded, getting up.

Tears welled up on Kuzon's eyes as he shook. Gibson noticed his distress and went over to him. He stroked his head and sighed. Gosh these kids have only been with them for a short amount of time and yet it still hurts so much to see any of them cry like this. He suddenly eyed Violet as she hesitated. He gave a small nod to her. Violet looked down a bit before looking back up and taking a deep breath.

"Because...because I lived there before mom brought me to you guys. I had my memories wiped so I could forget all the terrible stuff I saw for a while." She explained, looking at Kuzon, Angela, and Maurice.

"That explains your behavior." Maurice muttered finally after a moment of silence.

Violet shrugged.

"Yeah can you blame me though? I was like three or four when I was taken out of there." She said.

"There? What do you mean there?" Roland asked, crossing his arms.

Violet was hesitant, knowing that the team probably wouldn't want to drop this so suddenly. Still they have a right to know, at least that's what she thinks.

"The lab where we were born." She answered.

"We were born in a lab?!" Roland turned to the team with wide eyes.

Mandarin flinched, not opening his eyes. Violet noticed this and placed a hand on his own, now feeling guilty. Antauri really wished Violet was more delicate on the matter.

"Yes now keep in mind-"

"This is so messed up, this is so messed up!" Angela lamented, putting her hands on her forehead.

Penny peeked her head out of the room, wondering what they were talking about. Jinmay lead her back in.

"I wanna know what's going on too!" She huffed.

"I know Penny but..it's not...you'll learn what's going on when you're older." She said gently.

That's too long though! She wanted to know now! Penny pouted and crossed her arms. Why was everyone so upset anyway? They found their mommy and it was Mandarin! Someone she really really liked! She was already start making lists of fun things for them to do, which made her stop pouting.

"Look it's not all bad! Mandarin brought you here specifically to keep you away from Skeleton King. That way all of you can be safe with us." Nova explained to them, hating that these kids were put into this situation to begin with.

Roland stood still for a moment before looking down.

"What was bony butt gonna do? Turn us into some sort of army?" He scoffed, joking.

His answer was met by silence. He whipped his head up and looked towards Mandarin. So that's why he's been so jumpy around them, that's why he's acting so weird!

"Shrieking Shuggazoom he was!" He yelled, growing very angry.

Angela and Maurice felt very sick as they turned to each other, making sure neither of them were dreaming. An army? He was trying to make an entire army out of them?!  
This was all going to hell very quickly.

Otto got down and went over to Roland, who was still fuming as the others tried to calm him down.

"Your mom wasn't gonna let that happen Rolly." He said, loud enough so that the others would be quiet.

Roland turned to him. Otto smiled and held him close.

"He didn't want any of you to end up like that, he hated the idea of any of you ending up there. But he couldn't get all of you here."

"They would get too suspicious." Mandarin muttered, loud enough so they could hear.

"Yeah but Roland as bad as his situation was, we're gonna make sure so that this never happens again. We'll save your other siblings, defeat Skeleton King, and then we can figure out the rest from there." Otto said, stroking his head.

Roland was silent before nodding a bit. He always hated Skeleton King but now? Oh boy was that guy gonna have a severe butt kicking from him.

Kuzon sniffled as Gibson handed him a tissue.

"You know...I always wondered who our parents were and why they...why they brought us to you guys but...and we still really consider you guys our parents too but I couldn't help but be curious...n-now that we know and the reason why...I'm just so happy." He sniffled before digging his face into the tissues.

Mandarin opened his eyes and sat up a bit more. He was happy at this news?

"You are?" Angela asked.

Kuzon nodded as Penny bounced in place.

"I knew it too." She chirped, causing Jinmay to look down at her with a confused face.

"I mean! I sorta kinda had a feeling..."

Maurice barely moved, many conflicting feelings going through him, as he stared at the ground.

"So are there more of us?" Kuzon asked, still sniffling.

Gibson nodded and paused.

"Yes but...erm...how do I say this?"

"They're brainwashed." Violet stated, causing the others to flinch.

Roland titled his head.

"What's a brainwash? Sounds icky."

"It is. It's when someone forces someone to believe in the same stuff they do, like Skeleton King is great and all that." Violet explained.

Roland frowned.

"Well he ain't. He's a poopy jerk pants." He huffed, causing Angela to snort, almost laughing.

"Is there any way to save them?" Maurice asked, looking up.

"We're working on that right now, we're just working on what to do with the labs." Chiro explained.

"Burn that place and Skeleton King with it." Roland huffed.

"We can't Roland-" Jinmay began but Angela came over to them.

"What if we just use those to unbrainwash them?" Angela asked, sitting back in her seat.

The team's hearts warmed seeing most of them get back in their seats, minus Penny and Violet. They wanted to help too. Penny looked back at Mandarin and went over to him. She sat down next to him and crossed her legs.

"We would but the robots are our biggest problem." Antauri explained.

"Robots?"

"The robots that took care of your mother." Gibson briefly explained before hearing a scoff coming from the back.

"Took care. Uh huh." Violet grumbled.

Gibson sighed.

"Violet a lot has been thrown at your siblings heads-"

"What I can't say they treated mom like crap?!" Violet snapped.

"Not right now!"

Violet grumbled but felt Mandarin pull her into his side.

"They're not ready yet. Give them time to process this." He said softly.

Violet looked up at him before resting her head against him.

"So for now we may have to use the technology we have here before deciding what to do with the labs, which may involve us fighting the robots in it." Antauri said.

Angela nodded as Roland sucked in air from his teeth. Penny was a bit confused but focused her attention on her mother.

"Sheesh oil does not come out of fur that well so that's gonna be a fun day." He sighed.

Maurice frowned as Otto chuckled.

"Yeah you're telling me."

"Why do you say that?" Maurice asked slowly, an eyebrow raised.

Roland frowned.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"It almost sounds like you're going to fight them too." Maurice said.

Sprx laughed and rolled his eyes.

"C'mon Maurice, he was just emphasizing with us. He's right it is gonna be a fun day." He said sarcastically.

Roland was quiet, looking off to the side. Sprx's laughter died down as he began to realize.

"Wait you're not thinking of actually going down there and fighting with us right?" He asked.

Roland looked at him straight in the eye and actually nodded.

"Yeah, I mean I figured that's what I was gonna do anyway so...I mean I would need armor and weapons but Otto can make them." He said, straightfaced.

Nova laughed and shook her head.

"Okay no, not happening. You're not fighting anything until you're old enough."

Roland stood up abruptly, appalled.

"What do you mean?! After everything he's done you expect me to sit by and do nothing?!" He questioned, crossing his arms.

"We're not saying that! You're still too young to even go up to level two!"

Roland clenched his fists.

"I can do level two in my sleep! I'm not gonna stay behind and not beat Skeleton king's face in!"

"Roland do not yell, besides that's our job. You're still too young to go out there and fight." Antauri said sternly.

"Angela, Kuzon, and Maurice are training at level four, will they be able to go out and fight?" Roland asked.

Antauri looked at the three.

"No," He began.

Kuzon looked down, relief filling his veins.

"even though they are training at a higher level we still don't feel they're ready to engage in real live combat yet. Like you, they're still very young." He explained.

Roland glared at him and gave out a humourless laugh.

"What am I supposed to do then? I can't just sit on my butt watching everyone go out and help. I just can't. And don't say I can help my brainwashed brothers and sisters because a healer is not what I am." Roland argued, pointing at himself.

"We get that Roland, but our answer still stands. You're too young." Chiro stated.

Roland glared at him and shook in anger before turning and storming off.

"Roland wait-!"

"Take your stupid too young rule and shove it in the toilet!" Roland snapped before going down the tubes.

The team were shocked by that. Mandarin stared at the tube he left in, emphasizing his emotions and situation. He'd probably snap at them too if he had any anger left in him.

"Wow...that was pretty harsh coming from him." Kuzon said.

"Yeah I mean he argues and loses his temper at times but I've never heard him say something like that before." Maurice said softly.

Violet shrugged.

"Not really, you should hear our arguments. He's worse."

Antauri nodded, no doubt having to stop their really heavy insulted filled arguments at times. Penny pulled in her knees.

"I don't wanna fight. I don't wanna see people get hurt." She said softly.

Mandarin looked down at her. She was so innocent and sweet.

"What was that Penny?" Nova asked.

Penny lifted her head and shook it, smiling.

"Nothing, I'm talking to myself." She chirped.

Mandarin blinked before looking back at the others. What was that about? Was she not comfortable talking about this subject?

Nova snickered at her chipper attitude. Even in a messed up situation like this one she's positive and happy.

"Okay, what do we do about Roland? You know he's gonna try and pull a stunt" She pointed out.

Antauri closed his eyes, knowing what he had to do.

"I'll go and speak to him while you continue your conversation. I know there will be a lot to talk about." He said.

The team silently agreed, knowing the kids could still have a lot of questions and there was still planning that needs to be done. Antauri went past them and went down the tube.

"Is he sure he wants to do that? I mean you know how much they argue." Sprx said.

Chiro tilted his head and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, I think he's got this. They may argue a lot but Antauri knows Roland well enough what to say to him."

Sprx wasn't sure about that but it's not like he wasn't wrong.

Angela looked back at Mandarin before looking back at the team.

"Um about us being so curious about who our parents were I'm sorry if we hurt you in any way." She said.

Otto's eyes widened a bit.

"Why would you think that?" He asked.

"Well we were kinda fixated on it without letting you know we consider you guys our parents too...we were just curious." Angela said as Kuzon nodded.

Gibson shook his head.

"No that is completely understandable you were curious about where you came from. We know you all love us." He said as Jinmay nodded.

"Yeah so it's fine."

Penny clung to Mandarin.

"Besides! We got our original mommy living with us too! So that's even better!" She said happily.

Mandarin had a small smile before Otto crawled on him.

"Yep! So it's the best of all worlds!" He cheered.

"Otto..." Mandarin grumbled.

Kuzon frowned a bit, noticing Mandarin's stomach.

"Wait is he having a baby? Is that why his stomach is...like that?" He asked.

Chiro nervously smiled and held up two fingers.

"Twins actually."

Kuzon was quiet while Penny squealed in joy.

"I am so dumb how did I not realize-!" He began.

* * *

Roland angrily stuffed his toy sword into his bag.

 _"Too young...pff! Too young my butt! I'll show em! I'll take Skeleton King on and make him pay for what he did to..."_

Roland paused for a moment. Should he call him mom? It makes sense but at the same time it was a bit weird, since he was a guy and all. Whatever either way Skeleton King will pay for what he did to him!  
 _  
"Now all I need is armor...which is where exactly?_ " He thought to himself as he looked around.

"Going somewhere?" A deep voice behind him asked.

Roland quickly turned towards Antauri, who stood in the doorway. Antauri looked around before going in and having the door shut behind him. Roland gritted his teeth, his plan was ruined!

"Listen I understand you're a bit upset-"

"A bit upset?!"

Antauri froze and closed his eyes, trying not to scold him for snapping at him. That won't do any good right now.

"Okay really upset but you have to understand why we cannot allow you to engage in combat." He began.

"And you need to get why I have to go! Wouldn't you want to go after the jerks that hurt your mom and other brothers and sisters you just found out you have now?" Roland angrily asked.

Antauri sighed and frowned.

"Yes I would, but I wouldn't exactly go out and fight him at your age and level of experience. I would hate to see you get hurt or worse at Skeleton king's hand." He explained, trying to get that across.

Roland clutched his bag and gritted his teeth.

"He needs to be stopped Antauri! Can't you see that I need to do this?! He deserves every bad thing that comes at him! Bone bag is a monster for hurting M-ugh-Mand-" Roland stopped himself.

Antauri stepped closer to him, his eyes now softened.

"Mom...he...I know he did some bad stuff back then and was evil...but he doesn't deserve any of this. He doesn't deserve being hurt...not when I sorta kinda grew to like him or something. I just can't do nothing about it, I can't." Roland choked, his voice wavering.

Antauri's eyes softened even more.

"I know." He said, pulling him into a hug.

Roland started crying and clutched to him. Antauri stroked the top of his head.

"Do you wish you hear something? Chiro and I had a conversation once and I mentioned something that I began realizing." Antauri began.

Roland sniffled, not replying.

"I began realizing how much you and your mother are alike. It frightened me at first with your temper and stubborn attitude. However I see now that I shouldn't have been so worried."

Roland looked up at him, wondering why.

"You are so much like your mother, you have his good heart and protective nature. And I saw that just from tonight alone...including your outbursts" Antauri said, giving Roland a small smile.

Roland's eyes spilled with tears as he dug his face into his chest. Antauri stroked his back.

"Y-you really think so?" Roland asked.

"Of course I do-"

"No I mean about him having my temper." Roland said, laughing a bit.

Antauri almost felt himself laugh.

"I know it may not seem that way, but I promise his temper was terrible. Not like Nova's but still it was pretty terrible." Antauri explained, stroking Roland's head.

Roland laughed a bit before wiping his eyes.

"I still can't stand and do nothing..remember I'm not a healer. I don't even know how to work a first aid kit." He said.

Antauri chuckled.

"That does sound like a problem we need to work on. However I think you can help your mother with emotional healing." He said.

"Huh? Emotional healing?"

Antauri pulled him back.

"Your mother has gone through some serious trauma that we are still working to remedy, however that doesn't mean you can't help with that too. Perhaps you two can watch television when you both can't sleep." He suggested.

Roland remembered that idea. He thought on it, humming a bit.

"Hmm I guess I could...I still want to kick boney butt in the teeth." Roland huffed.

"I know, let us do the kicking for you for now. You'll be able to fight alongside us one day. Just when you're older." Antauri said.

Roland grumbled but begrudgingly agreed.

"Fiine. I guess."

Antauri smiled and patted his head.

"Now I do not think we need to discuss your outbursts a while ago. I am willing to let it go this time but do not refer to shoving things into a toilet." Antauri said, causing Roland to nod and keep himself from grinning at his own joke.

"Do you want to come back up? We'll be starting dinner soon."

Roland thought for a moment but shook his head.

"Maybe later, I just got a lot to think about." He said.

Antauri nodded, understanding.

"I'll come get you when dinner's ready." He said before leaving.

Roland flopped onto his bed and sighed. Today was just a heavy and emotionally draining day. He began to think everything over as he watched his ceiling fan turn slowly. Slowly.

* * *

Ho boy, the kids now know. Wonder where that's gonna lead them? Hmm...thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

Hey finally the double digits! So this week is gonna be busy so updates may take a bit but I will do my best to update as quickly as I can. Please enjoy!

* * *

Roland peeked his head in Mandarin's room that night. As if on cue, Mandarin sat up and grumbled.

"How is it almost midnight?" He grumbled to himself before noticing Roland.

"Oh um..."

Roland motioned towards the living room.

"You wanna watch tv? Boiled blood is on." He said.

Mandarin sat up a bit more, the sounds of Otto snoring filling the silence.

"Erm sure." He said before getting up.

Roland waited for him in the living room before turning on the tv.

"And Horaz turns and punches Aeron in the chest!" A TV announcer said as a skinny blond man punches a man with green hair.

Roland groaned in annoyance as Mandarin flinched slightly at the sudden volume.

"Not this episode again! I swear their new episodes take longer and longer to make." He complained, turning the volume down a bit.

Mandarin almost laughed at that.

"It isn't like there aren't idiotic fights that break out everyday in this universe." He said.

"I know! How hard is it to find footage of people fighting each other?" Roland said before laying on the bean bag chair.

Mandarin tilted his head and thought as the two guys were pulled apart.

"Maybe some places in the universe have strict laws against that sort of thing?" He suggested.

"Maybe, if so that's dumb." Roland said.

"That it is, then again it is their laws."

"I guess...still dumb."

Mandarin nodded as the two continued to watch the show. Mandarin looked down at Roland as his eyes lit up at the show. He smiled a bit before turning his attention back to the screen.

"Ooh this next fight is cool, it's during a food fight in a cafeteria." Roland said, quickly getting comfortable.

"A food fight? Now that is interesting."

"You're telling me. I'd love to get into one of these. It just sounds messy and fun." Roland said, smiling mischievously.

Mandarin raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Oh do you now?"

Roland nodded. Mandarin actually felt a bit more comfortable with that than him wanting to fight everything. Mandarin made a mental note that when he gets better he should find out how to control and settle Roland's temper issues.

The clip was right in the middle of the pandemonium, food flying everywhere and students screaming. Suddenly two students hopped over the tables and jumped on each other, their adrenaline taking control. Students tried to get them off each other but they just kept going at it.

"Okay, where are the teachers? They should be stopping this." Mandarin ranted.

"They'll get there don't worry." Roland assured him as the teachers flood into the room and pull the two students apart.

Mandarin rubbed his face in irritation.

"They're so incompetent, they only now just show up?"

Roland giggled and Mandarin looked down at him.

"I've never seen you get so irritated before. It's funny."

Mandarin blinked and looked back at the tv, his mood changing.

"Only because you see the new weaker me everyday..." He said softly.

Roland abruptly stood up and crossed his arms.

"Who told you that? If so I'm gonna kick them in the shin!" He snapped.

Mandarin flinched back a bit by his tone but Roland softened up.

"Look you're not weak for any of this. I'd be pretty messed up too if I had a hundred bajillion babies watched them be forced into an army. That's messed up!"

Roland went over to him and dug his face into his side.

"You got us here with the Hyperforce...that's something I don't think a weak person would do." He said, looking up at him before realizing Mandarin was tearing up.

"Oh crap I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry! Oh jeez-!" He began to search for tissues before Mandarin snickered.

"No it's fine, I'm just so glad the team raised you so well." He said, wiping his eyes.

Roland's face lit up before he scratched his chin in embarrassment.

"Heheh I dunno...I guess they did."

Mandarin snickered as Roland plopped down next to him.

"So you ain't weak. I mean with muscles as big as yours I figured you'd lift as many cars at Skeleton King as possible." He said.

"When I get myself back in order of course."

"Eh true."

The two continued to watch the show until Mandarin's door opened and Roland scrambled for the remote and changed the channel to a cooking show. Otto yawned as he looked around until he saw Mandarin.

"Hey you, what are you doing?" He asked.

Roland peeked out at him.

"Watching tv with me since we can't sleep." He coughed.

Otto sleepily smiled and yawned again.

"You can't sleep either? Aww what'cha watching?" He asked.

Roland and Mandarin eyed the TV.

"A cooking show." He answered.

Otto's eyes lit up at that and he went over to them.

"Ooh that sounds good! What are they making?" He asked.

Roland watched as the chefs cooked some rice and vegetables.

"I think a stir fry."

"Oh that sounds so good right now!" Otto whined.

"It does but dinner was a few hours ago though." Roland huffed.

Otto hummed before looking at Mandarin.

"Doesn't that sound good Mandy? Mandy?" Otto noticed Mandarin just staring at the tv.

He then abruptly stood up and rushed into the kitchen.

"Mandarin?" Otto asked.

"Now I'm hungry! Great!" Mandarin huffed as he got the ingredients the show stated.

Roland peered into the kitchen.

"I thought you ate already?" He asked.

"He's eating for three, Rolly. So he's gotta eat a lot." Otto said, going into the kitchen.

"Oh yeah..." Roland sat for a moment before getting up.

"Wait can I have some too?" He asked, turning off the tv.

"If Mandy doesn't eat it all!"Otto chirped.

"I'll try not to." Mandarin said as he started cooking.

Otto smiled as Roland went up next to Mandarin and continued talking with him. He then began to look over the notes that Gibson gave him for their plans, studying on the weapons.

* * *

After that day, the kids were dealing with the news of Mandarin being their mother in their own way. Penny was quick to accept him and hung around him, Violet grew less clingy but she still was close to him, Kuzon and Angela were working up to help in any way, knowing that the horrible things that happened to him were extremely traumatizing, and Roland also helped too while slowly warming up to him. Maurice? He just kept leaving the room and spending time by himself. Antauri tried to talk to him but Maurice kept insisting that everything is fine and walked away.

"C'mon Mo it'll be fun!" Penny chirped.

Maurice looked off to the side before sadly smiling. The team were planning to spend time together in the command center and Mandarin was resting up there for the time being.

"I'm sorry but I have studies to get to." He said before nearly running into Roland, who looked at him suspiciously.

"Oh sorry R-"

"Why are you avoiding mom?" He asked, getting right to the point.

Angela nodded and looked concerned. She walked up next to Roland.

"Yeah what's up with that? Everytime he's in the room with us you quickly rush off. Are you feeling okay?" She asked.

Maurice shook his head, really not wanting to talk about his feelings right now.

"I don't know what you mean. I'm fine." He lied.

Kuzon went right up to him.

"No you're not, remember we share the same room. You look so angry and upset." He said.

Maurice flinched before Penny held his hand.

"What's wrong Mo? You always talk to us."

Maurice's throat dried.

"Are you...are you mad at the team for not telling you about our mom sooner?" Violet asked.

Maurice's face softened.

"No of course not-"

"Is it Skeleton King? Because I agree with you on that." Angela huffed.

"No, no."

Roland's eyes narrowed.

"Then who are you mad at?" He asked.

Maurice opened his mouth but nothing came out. Kuzon wanted to ask, but he almost didn't want to.

"Hey Penny, why don't you get your dolls. I'm sure the team would love to play them with you." He said, smiling..

Penny's worried face lit up.

"That's a great idea! I'll be right back!" She said before running off.

Kuzon turned back to Maurice. He didn't want Penny to hear this.

"Is it...is it mom?" He asked softly.

Maurice flinched. He turned to him before looking away, eyes closed. Angela frowned and crossed her arms.

"Wait why are you mad at him? He's the one who sent us here, so we could be safe." She said.

"That's just it."

Everyone grew confused as Maurice tightened his fists.

"There were other ways he could have gotten help. He could have called the team, or escaped. Jeez he could have taken the robots by himself! I mean look at him!" Maurice snapped.

Roland glared at him harshly while Violet stepped up.

"Maurice you weren't there, the robots abused the heck out of him to the point where he felt like he had to stay." She said.

Angela's stomach sank.

"He was abused there?" Angela sadly asked.

Violet quickly turned to her.

"Of course they did! They did everything in their power for him to stay." She explained before turning back to Maurice.

"So look Maurice it wasn't as if he abandoned us because he didn't care, he had to leave us here because-"

"It doesn't matter why he did it! He still did it! I just can't believe that all this time he left us here wondering who the heck our parents were!" Maurice snapped.

Roland was seriously getting pissed off with him. Does he not get it?

"He couldn't! You know why he couldn't!" Violet snapped.

"You haven't been feeling what I have felt being here! None of you felt abandoned like I did!"

"Hey you think we were just happily living through life not thinking who our parents were and why they left us?! We're just happy that our mom is here now!" Angela argued, also growing tired of this out of nowhere attitude.

Maurice glared at her.

"You think I can just accept that right away?! You think I'm just gonna accept that he's here now after months of feeling abandoned?! That he is not only a male who gave birth to us in a lab but is only one of the most dangerous villains that the team had to face?! You really think I'm just gonna be so happy at that?!" He shouted.

Roland began to walk over, his anger taking control.

"I'm not saying that I just mean-!" Angela tried to say before Maurice interrupted her.

"Then what?! Because as far as I'm concerned he isn't any mother to m-!"

The next thing Maurice knew he was pinned to the wall with Roland snarling at him.

"Now you listen." He growled, causing the others to feel sick at his tone.

"I don't give a crap what you think of him or if you even like him. But the moment you start acting like he should be blamed because he left us here with people that can take care of us instead of a freaking lab and think he didn't care about us then you'll have to start answering to me."

Maurice raised an eyebrow.

"Are you threatening me?"

Roland licked his lips and gripped him harder.

"Yep. You have no idea what he's been through. You should be freaking thankful that mom basically saved us so you better shut up before I-!" Angela then pulled Roland back.

"Roland that's enough!"

Kuzon went over to him and held out an arm in warning Maurice just shook his head. Violet looked between the groups, shocked by what just happened. She needed to talk to Maurice about abuse because he clearly doesn't know anything about it. That and talk to Roland because holy shit! Penny then bounded into the room, a basket full of dolls.

"I couldn't decide which one to pick, so I picked all of them!" She cheered before noticing the tension.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

Roland's anger simmered down and he smiled.

"Nothing Pen. Big kid stuff y'know?"

Penny frowned a bit. Didn't seem like it, it seemed very serious. Though it was probably best if she didn't know right now.

"Okay...can we go up now?"

Violet was still in shock before getting back to reality.

"Yeah c'mon I got things to create!"

"You say things like that and I don't like it." Penny said as the others followed him. Roland shot Maurice a harsh glare before going back to talk to Penny. Maurice looked down.

"What the heck was up with that?!" Kuzon asked, a bit upset.

"With what? What I said? Because I'm not gonna go back on it. Not now anyway."

Kuzon sighed and rubbed his head. Oh boy does his brother not get it.

* * *

"Jinmay I got the dolls!" Penny called to Jinmay, rushing over to her.

Antauri quickly sensed the tension between Roland and Maurice. Roland quickly went over to the large screen to play his games, wanting to ignore this whole thing. However he was quickly stopped by Antauri first.

"Are you two okay?" Antauri asked.

Roland looked up at him and nodded.

"Oh yeah, fine." He lied before going to play video games with the others.

Antauri turned to Maurice.

"What about you?" He asked.

Maurice sighed.

"I don't want to talk about it." He said.

Antauri raised an eyebrow. This was the third time he's heard that. Before he could talk to him, Maurice went to some chairs to wait on Gibson for chess. Angela began to walk past him.

"I suppose you're not going to tell me what happened either. I heard yelling." Antauri said, not looking at her.

Angela froze but sighed.

"Maurice is being an idiot right now. Even after spending time with him...never mind I'll talk about it when I'm ready." She said before following Penny.

Antauri blinked as the kids got to their usual spots. Violet went into the lab where Mandarin and Gibson were lurking in. Kuzon sat down with Otto as he was feeding Erin.

Something doesn't seem right.

Fifteen minutes later Gibson left the room and Mandarin peeked his head out before sitting next to Otto.

"Hi Mandy." Otto chirped as Erin squealed.

"Hello." Mandarin greeted before Maurice caught his eye.

He was playing chess with Gibson and seemed to be okay, but he sensed a lot of anger and hurt. He saw Mandarin looking at him and quickly looked back at Gibson. Mandarin sighed, he must be upset with him. Why else was he avoiding him, not that he was surprised or anything but still why does this hurt so much? He then saw Roland glaring harshly at Maurice before noticing Mandarin. He quickly looked back at his game. Now that was concerning.

He suddenly felt one of the twins kick as he rested a hand on his stomach. Mandarin groaned as

Otto chuckled.

"They're getting active again?" He asked.

"They are and I hate this." Mandarin sighed.

"Don't worry it'll be over in four months." Otto said as Erin babbled loudly.

"Yeah and from what I heard they go by quick." Kuzon said, trying to comfort his mother.

Mandarin only groaned in response. The pregnancies back in the labs sure felt like an eternity. Penny then suddenly rushed next to him and climbed up on him, making the orange monkey wheeze in shock.

"Hi mommy!" She chirped.

"Where did you come from?!" Mandarin wheezed as Otto laughed.

"I was playing with dolls but now I'm done." She said.

"Be careful up there Penny." Jinmay advised as Angela too came over to him.

"Kay."

Penny settled herself on Mandarin's chest armor and nuzzled him. Angela wanted to ask if the robots really did abuse him but she couldn't ask in front of Penny.

"So whatcha doing?" Penny asked.

"Sitting."

Penny frowned.

"That's boring."

"Not to me it's not."

Angela smiled as she sat next to Otto. Even though she hated Skeleton King for hurting her mom like this, she was still awfully curious about him. For reasons even she doesn't know at the moment.

Erin babbled a bit before attempting to gnaw on Otto's finger. Otto giggled before pausing.

"Lemme see your gums." He said softly before lifting one of Erin's lips.

Right on the bottom of his pink gums was a small tooth growing in. Otto's eyes brightened as he called to the others to show Erin's new tooth off. Erin was suddenly confused by the attention, but that didn't mean that he didn't enjoy it. As Erin gnawed on Antauri's hand, Antauri noticed Maurice and Roland a good few ways away from each other. He frowned a bit, that was unnerving.

* * *

Antauri was walking by the children's rooms, just got done with tucking Penny in. As he passed by Violet's room and was ready to go in he heard Angela and Violet talking.

"I just don't think Maurice really knows the extent of what the robots did and why. I don't think he even knows how abuse works! I mean yeah I can understand why he feels hurt a little, but to say all of that and then fully admit that he doesn't consider him our mom? That's just-" Violet's voice said, full of frustration.

Antauri's stomach sank, what was Maurice talking about? What did he mean that he didn't consider Mandarin his mother?

"I know and trust me I'll talk to him. Maybe I'll get Antauri to talk to him too, he listens to him." Angela's voice rang out, sounding frustrated.

"Yeah maybe...I just want to forget this even happened for a while."

"I know, me too. Night."

Angela then walked out of the room and stumbled back when she saw Antauri.

"Oh jeez you scared me!" She gasped, placing a hand on her chest.

"I apologize, what were you two discussing? What was Maurice talking about?" Antauri asked, frowning.

Angela flinched and looked down.

"Umm...can we sit in the kitchen?"

After explaining what happened, minus the part of Roland pinning Maurice to the wall, Antauri closed his eyes.

"I had a feeling he was feeling upset, every time I try to talk to him he just denies it or leaves. I just had no idea he felt that way." He said.

Angela leaned back in her chair and looked at the ceiling.

"I didn't either. Jeez I know he did a lot of evil things before but it's not like that now!" She groaned,throwing her hands up.

Antauri smiled a bit.

"I know."

Angela sat back upright and kept frowning.

"But obviously he doesn't or at least is too hurt to admit it. Or even realize how abuse can make people want to stay in an abusive environment. I have known all of this just by Violet telling me alone."

Antauri nodded, the girl was really bright on things like this and it made sense. She lived there.

"I will try to find time to talk to Maurice about this. I can understand he's hurt but that's no excuse to avoid his mother like this." He said sternly.

Angela nodded. Antauri patted her head.

"Go to bed, we have training tomorrow morning."

Angela nodded and they exchanged their good nights. Once Angela got to her room she hopped onto her bed. She paused before turning on her reading light and pulled out two huge files One of them had the title, "Skeleton King" and the other had "The Labs". The Labs file just had what the team knew about the labs so far. She opened the files and began reading.

* * *

Oooh Angela what you doing? Also yes I know Maurice is acting like a lil shit right now, but that's the point! Trust me this will all add up later and he will recognize his mistakes later.

Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

Eyyyyy welcome to another chapter! So you guys like manotto right? Then well here ya go! Enjoy!

* * *

A month passed as tensions between Maurice and Roland were still prevalent but simmered down for the time being. Antauri tried to talk to Maurice when he could, but he kept up with leaving or denying that things were wrong. Mandarin was unafraid of his children now, but it was clear that something else was taking place.

Sprx one day noticed Mandarin just staring off to the side. Concerned, he went up to him.

"Um Mandarin? You okay?" He asked.

Mandarin jumped a bit and looked over at him.

"Huh? Oh, could be better." He admitted.

Sprx raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to get Otto? He's about done working on the weapons for the day." He suggested.

Mandarin shook his head.

"Oh no I don't want to be a burden to him."

Okay that was concerning. For the past week Mandarin seemed more depressed than usual and now he was saying stuff like this? That can't be a good sign for him or the twins.

"Okay..." Sprx's voice trailed off before leaving him to stare at nothing again.

He peeked into Ott's shop the green monkey got up and wiped his forehead.

"Whoo! That's done! Now to find something to eat!" He chirped before running into Sprx.

"Oh hey Sprx what's up?" He asked.

Sprx looked back at where Mandarin was sitting.

"Listen you think you can talk to your boyfriend later? He's acting weird even for him."

Otto was caught on the boyfriend comment but quickly ignored it.

"Weird how?" He asked worriedly.

Sprx looked back at Mandarin again.

"Staring at nothing, saying that he doesn't want to be a burden? Doesn't that sound concerning to you?" He asked softly, causing Otto's eyes to widen.

"Yeah, you don't think this whole entire lab thing has given him depression do you?" Sprx asked.

Otto's heart pained at the thought. He wouldn't put it past him, given the circumstances. But still the thought was just so awful.

"I...I don't know but that sounds pretty bad. I'll talk to him later." He said as Mandarin got up to go back to his room.

 _"Or right now."_ Otto thought, going past the red monkey.

* * *

Mandarin laid on his bed, his body and mind begging him to sleep. Before he could even close his eyes, he heard the door open and Otto hopped onto the bed and curl up next to him.

"Hi you." Otto said with a smile.

Mandarin blinked before resting his head against him, his mind yelling at him to pull back.

"Hello..."

Otto placed a hand on Mandarin's cheek.

"You okay? You seem out of it."

Did Sprx talk to him? He said he didn't want to be a burden to Otto! Mandarin sighed.

"You know me too well. No, no I'm not." He softly said.

Otto's face drooped as he stroked Mandarin's cheek.

"I had a feeling. You seem more depressed than usual and I'm worried." He said.

Mandarin looked down, his face crumpling.

"I don't mean to."

"I know you don't, doesn't make me any less worried though." Otto said softly.

Mandarin eyed the side of the room, not wanting to lose it in front of Otto. Otto cupped his face, a sudden rush of emotions taking over.

"You know you can always talk to me. You're never a burden to me because I-" Otto stopped himself, his romantic feelings almost stepping it too far.

Mandarin burrowed his brows together.

"Because you what?"

Crap now Otto was stuck. Otto's face turned slightly red.

"Uhhhh because I-well..."

Mandarin waited for an answer. Otto decided it was now or never as he placed his forehead against Mandarin's.

"Because I care about you that much."

Mandarin didn't respond until the meaning of his message sunk in.

"Oh..."

Otto tilted his head at his tone, it almost sounded like he expected something else.

"What did you think I was gonna say?"

Mandarin's face flushed.

"N-never mind it's not important now."

"Nu uh! It doesn't sound like it!" Otto laughed before smirking.

Mandarin just closed his eyes and rested his forehead against his.

"So if you need to talk to anyone you can always talk to me. No matter how depressed you are." Otto said softly, stroking his head.

Mandarin didn't say anything, just let him stroke his head. Otto's emotions got the better of him as he kissed his head.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked.

Mandarin bit his lip before shaking his head.

"Not now, maybe some other time. Can you just stay with me?"

Otto sadly nodded and cuddled up with him.

"Sure." He said softly but was surprised when Mandarin kept talking.

"I just want to be me again. Is that so wrong?" Mandarin asked.

Otto shook his head, knowing it isn't.

"No of course not, you're still healing though." Otto reminded him.

Mandarin laid on his back and looked up at the ceiling.

"I know...it doesn't make it any less frustrating and upsetting."

Otto brushed his hand against his face and nuzzled him.

"Don't worry, you'll be back to your old self in time." He assured him.

Mandarin wasn't so sure about it, but Otto being here made everything better. He just wanted to get through the day. A sudden thought that he buried away a while ago suddenly came up and it settled in. Mandarin looked down at Otto, who snuggled against him.

"Erm so about these weekly outings you and the others do..." Mandarin began.

Otto perked up his head.

"You wanna go with us?" He asked.

Mandarin almost instinctively rubbed his arm.

"I'm not saying yes and I'm not saying no. I figured that I couldn't stay in this robot for the rest of my existence. I just want full assurance that I will be safe." He said.

Otto thought on it, thinking of ideas so that Mandarin would be okay with going outside again.

"Well we could have the allies keep an eye out in case anything suspicious and we'll keep close. I promise Mandarin we'll do everything we can so you'll be safe." Otto said seriously.

Mandarin almost chuckled at how serious he was. Still it was a sweet gesture though. Mandarin's muscles relaxed but then another worry popped up.

"Are there still citizens roaming around?" He asked, not wanting too much outside social interaction.

"Not as many because they're on Ranger Seven but there's still some that live in underground bunkers. If they get scared we'll explain you're on our side." Otto assured him.

Mandarin thought on everything he said before signing.

"Then I guess I could t-try to go out...when are you going out?" He asked as Otto smiled widely.

"Tomorrow if that's ok. We're gonna go to the bookstore and go to that new buffet restaurant."

Mandarin nodded.

"That sounds fine to me." He said softly before the door suddenly open.

"No more being sad! It's a nice day!" Penny huffed before jumping onto the bed.

"Penny please!" Kuzon called out, following her.

Otto laughed as Penny got in between them and nuzzled Mandarin.

"People should be sad on rainy days! Those days are boring!" She huffed.

"Don't diss rainy days Pen." Kuzon huffed before looking at Otto.

"I'm sorry she heard you and Sprx talking about how depressed Mandarin was and she couldn't hold back anymore." He said with a sad smile.

Mandarin looked at him before Penny continued to nuzzle him.

"No more being sad, it's sunny and nice out." She repeated.

Otto snickered as he patted her head.

"Don't worry Pen, he'll be fine. Now let's go and get ready for TV time!" Otto cheered as Penny rushed out of the room.

"I'm gonna go get my sketchbook first." Kuzon said as he followed her.

Otto waited until they were gone before looking at Mandarin.

"I'll be back soon okay?" He said before kissing his head.

Mandarin smiled a bit before Otto nuzzled him.

"You're gonna have so much fun tomorrow."

* * *

"Mandarin it's fine." Chiro said as Mandarin was backing away into the robot.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Otto?" Nova asked.

Otto nodded and proudly smiled.

"Yep he said he wanted to go." He said as Penny hopped in place.

Roland wasn't really so sure about this. He freaked the first mention of going outside or at least that's what Angela told him.

"Mandarin we promise you'll be fine! The allies are set and ready in case anything happens!" Chiro assured the over muscled monkey.

Mandarin looked around before edging back out. He shakily kept looking around as the team grouped together. Violet patted his hand.

"Okay so the tank will take us to the bookstore, the small shops near the new restaurant, and then we have dinner there. We have a private room to eat at so crowds won't be a thing."

A few people nodded while Mandarin kept looking around. Just in case. The tank was large enough for Mandarin to fit in, so that was already a huge plus.

They all got inside as Chiro went to go drive it. Mandarin sat in the back with Otto next to him.

As they were on their way, Mandarin's depressive cycle started to sink in as he rarely said a whole lot as kept looking...off. Otto noticed this and clung to him.

"Sorry...I hate being like this." Mandarin grumbled.

"No don't be it's okay." Otto assured him.

Mandarin rubbed his face and fought the tears that threatened to spill out of his eyes. He needs to stop crying for one second!

"I just didn't want to cause trouble and yet-"

"No, no you did nothing wrong you're fine." Otto huffed.

Roland looked back at them as Kuzon kept going on and on about this one art book he was sure he'll be getting.

As soon as they got to the bookstore, the kids were already making lists of certain books they wanted. They soon hopped of as Sprx grabbed a few things. He noticed Mandarin having a difficult time getting up.

"Sheesh the twins already weighing you down?" He jokingly asked.

Mandarin glared at him.

"Sprx I was pregnant with quadruplets at one point. This is nothing." He huffed before lifting himself up.

Sprx sucked in some air.

"Jeez that sounds worse."

"It was. I had to be bedridden around this time I got so large." Mandarin lamented.

Man, Sprx couldn't imagine how that must've been. The idea of him sitting in bed, pouting, with a large belly to boot was a funny image but he really didn't want to laugh in front of Mandarin, not when he was like this.

* * *

"I'm gonna go to the kids part!" Penny chirped before rushing over to the brightly colored children's section.

Roland sighed as his family went to other parts of the bookstore. He might as well get a graphic novel or something while he's here. Maybe a photo book on buildings while he was at it too. He loved those.

Roland searched through many novels of different genres. His eyes lit up when he saw an interesting title but then grew bored while reading them. He put them back and kept looking.

"Hmm hmm oh! Star Streams has more books now!" He said as he picked up a book with a girl resting on a bright yellow and orange river.

He put it in a small basket as he kept looking until he heard loud whispering and concerned noises. He peeked his head out to see a few citizens crowding the pregnancy section. It was against the wall in the back along with childcare and so forth. Mandarin was standing in front of the books, resting his head against one of the bigger books. He wasn't even doing anything, just standing there. That sent off a small alarm in Roland's head as he rushed over to him.

"M-mom! What are you doing?" He asked.

Mandarin didn't respond, he just kept looking at the book with his head against it. Roland looked back and forth between the citizens and him. What the heck was he even doing?! Roland needed to get Mandarin out of here and quickly. He began pulling on Mandarin's hand.

"C-c'mon! I need uh help finding this book!" He begged.

Mandarin blinked before leaning back.

"Ok." He said softly before following him.

Roland sighed, that was too close. Roland and him went back into the graphic novel section as he continued to look for a few more books. Mandarin paused before looking around too, still in his depressive funk. Roland kept glancing up at him every now and then, making sure he wouldn't go back to the pregnancy section or do something even more concerning. The citizens kept their distance, scared of him.

"These are good. I'm gonna get one of these." Roland said, putting a book on steampunk heroes in his basket.

"Mm." Mandarin mumbled as he looked through a few, using his telepathy.

"O...okay..." Roland muttered.

 _"What's up with him today?"_ He thought before looking towards another section.

"So uh...let's go to the history place and see if you want anything?" Roland suggested.

"Mm..." Mandarin muttered again, tearing himself away from one book.

The two went around looking at random books that could interest Mandarin but not by much. The citizens stayed clear of Mandarin's path, afraid what he might do. They passed by the team and a few of the other kids a few times but Maurice was nowhere to be found.

 _"Wonder where that jerk went off to?"_ Roland thought before they ended up in the photography section.

"Ooh perfect I need a book on buildings!"

"Why?" Mandarin asked.

Roland looked back at him.

"Cause I wanna see different cities than this one. At least with pictures." He said before looking through the books.

Mandarin blinked before looking around. His eyes fell upon architecture and tapped Roland's head lightly.

"Maybe you should check there first." He suggested, motioning towards the area.

Roland blinked and nodded.

"Oh, good point." He said before going over to it.

Mandarin watched as he went through many books before groaning.

"Where are they?!" Roland cried, throwing his hands up in the air.

Mandarin almost snickered at his frustration, seeing as how it reflected his own back then. It felt sort of nostalgic in a way. Roland kept searching until finally he found something at least similar. He looked through the pages and sighed.

"Not exactly what I wanted but whatever." He said before putting it in the basket.

He turned to see Mandarin go back to the pregnancy section.

"W-wait where are you going now?" Roland asked, running and trying to catch up with him.

"Back over there." Mandarin replied.

Roland caught up with him.

"But why? Why do you just lay your head against one of the books? They aren't pillows." He said.

Mandarin didn't answer at first.

"I just feel comfortable.."

He did? Why does it make him comfortable? Was it some sort of irony or connection Roland wasn't getting? Maybe there was, but he didn't want to think too hard on that. If it made his mother comfortable then who was he to judge?

"Well I guess that's kinda okay...people are gonna stare."

"I don't care. I just need to think."

Roland nodded. Okay, if that's what he wanted. Kinda worrying but whatever.

Roland then found himself resting against the shelf as Mandarin rested his head against the books again. People kept walking by and starring but Roland glared at them. He looked at Mandarin's belly then at him. Roland finally guessed this pregnancy section was pulling some sort of reaction out of him, given the circumstances. Violet then walked by and froze.

"Mom what are you doing?" She asked, going over to him.

"Resting." Mandarin simply said.

Violet looked around, concerned. This didn't look good, should she get the Hyperforce?

"Are you okay?" She asked softly.

"Later I will be, just not now."

Violet nodded before resting her head against his large hand. She noticed Roland and smiled.

"I got a book on physics and what experiments to use them in." She said to Roland, trying to take her mind of her mother's mood.

"Cool! I don't know what physics is but I heard 'phys' so it's gotta be something fun."

Violet held up the book and grinned excitedly.

"It's the study of matter and its motion through space and time."

"Okay now you lost me." Roland snorted, dipping his head before the two giggled.

"So what'd you get?" She asked.

"A few big comic books-"

"You mean graphic novels?" Violet interrupted.

Roland rolled his eyes.

"Graphic novels or whatever, and this book on cities on other planets!" He said, pulling the big book out.

Violet narrowed her eyes at it.

"You do realize it's not on every planet right? It'd be bigger than you." She joked.

"I know but eh this is still good."

Mandarin listened to their conversation, still resting against the books lightly so he won't fall in. He then saw the child care books and blinked. Hmm maybe that could provide him with some helpful information.

After a while they were called to the front to buy their books. Roland hummed as he got his books away from the cashier. Mandarin took a bit but he came out with a few bags.

"Um Mandarin why did you by those-?" Chiro began to ask before Mandarin walked right past him.

"Okay then.."

The team got onto the tank and they were off to the restaurant. Roland this time decided to sit next to Mandarin.

They passed by several cars and trucks, most of which had 'oversize' signs on them. Mandarin stared at them as Roland read his book.

"You know," Mandarin looked over at Roland, who perked his head up.

"They could put the sign on my stomach and it could still be true."

Roland busted out laughing before being joined by Mandarin.

"Wh-what?!" Roland wheezed.

"It's true!"

Antauri sighed at the noise before realizing that was the first time Mandarin laughed that hard in months.

* * *

The waiter shook as Mandarin entered with the team. Antauri noticed this and went over to him.

"Not to worry, he is with us." He said as Mandarin looked around.

While they were eating, Mandarin was a bit nervous but grew more comfortable as time went on. Penny babbled about spiders and princesses and then merged the two together into spider princesses. Which sent shivers up Angela's spine.

Roland snickered at this as Kuzon nibbled on his Mac and cheese. At least everyone was getting along for the time being.

Maurice ate his okra and side glanced the others before staring down at his plate.

* * *

Otto clung to Mandarin all night after they got home, so happy for him.

"Otto please I need to use the bathroom." Mandarin huffed, setting Otto on his bed.

"Kay, I'm still so proud of you!" He sang as Mandarin left the room, flustered.

Otto smiled before it dropped. He laid on the bed and rested his arms above his head, deep in thought.

 _"Maybe I should tell him...I mean I think he feels the same way but then again I don't know how he'll react..."_ He thought before turning over.

He wanted to tell him but there was more he wanted to do with Mandarin. He wanted to hold his hand, snuggle with him, attempt to go on dates with him, and even...even kiss him. However due to Mandarin's current state he wasn't sure how he'll do with romance.

Mandarin entered the room as he noticed Otto's serious expression.

"You're looking awfully serious." He commented.

Otto lifted his head briefly.

"Oh, uh yeah. Just thinking."

Mandarin frowned a bit.

"Are you...are you sure?" He asked.

Otto nodded, his eyes closed. He then felt the weight of the bed shift as he opened his eyes. Mandarin looked over him as Otto blushed.

"Uh hi." Otto said.

"Hello." Mandarin said.

 _"Shrieking Shuggazoom he's so cute!"_ Otto's mind screamed.

"Are you sure you're alright? I sensed a lot of confusion and hesitation when I came back in here." Mandarin said suspiciously.

Otto felt his heart race.

"Y-yeah!"

Mandarin frowned, knowing he was lying.

"Otto I'm not so broken I can't handle any sort of conflict. Whatever is troubling you, you can tell me. I...I can handle it." He said with a bit of hesitation at the end.

Otto inhaled, ooh boy.

"Well uh...I was thinking and erm you don't have to if you don't want to! I can understand if you're not ready! It's just that for a while I kinda sorta..."

Mandarin leaned in a bit closer, eager to listen.

"I just sorta...fell head over heels for you. I want to go out with you Mandarin and be with you. Romantically that is." Otto stated, looking right up at Mandarin.

Mandarin blinked, registering everything he just said. He then leaned back and sighed loudly.

"Thank goodness! I thought for a second it was something terrible!" He wheezed as Otto sat up.

"Huh?"

Mandarin sat back up.

"From the way you were talking and feeling, I thought it was something awful or really depressing but I'm so thankful that it was this." He said, smiling a bit.

Otto raised his head.

"So y-you'd be comfortable and okay with dating? I mean do you feel the same way?" He asked.

Mandarin frowned and crossed his arms.

"Of course I do and of course I'm fine with that sort of relationship. Like I said I'm not so broken beyond repair that I can't handle romance. Why would you think I wouldn't?" He asked, sounding a touch hurt.

Otto flinched at his tone and looked down.

"I'm sorry I mean there are some things I still don't know what you can handle and what you can't handle. I'm not very good with things like this and I know you're not in a good place right now but I wasn't sure..."

Mandarin sighed again. What was Otto even talking about?

"Then just talk to me. My mental state may be in the toilet right now, but that doesn't mean I'm still that shaking mess you found a few months ago. Hell I'd probably be up for romance back then too, we would have just had to taken it much slower." He expressed before moving closer to Otto.

Otto raised his head.

"You would have?" He questioned.

Mandarin tilted his head and nodded.

"Yes probably. You have been so amazing with helping me recover but I would really appreciate it if you would have just asked me about this sort of subject. I'm not lesser because I'm a emotional and mental mess."

Otto quickly stood up.

"You are not!" He huffed before hugging him.

Mandarin turned to him as he grew silent.

"I didn't mean to make you feel like that with this...I'm sorry." Otto apologized.

"It's ok and you didn't treat me any lesser. I would just really appreciate it if you would have asked me." Mandarin said softly.

Otto nuzzled his side.

"Okay again I'm really sorry, I feel like a butt."

Mandarin rolled his eyes and patted Otto's back gently.

"Don't worry, we can't all be perfect...though you are close to perfect to me." He said softly.

Otto shuddered.

"Oh wow you're so cute it actually hurts." He blurted.

Mandarin scoffed as he averted his gaze.

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are! You're so cute!" Otto huffed back as he climbed up on him.

"No, I'm not adorable in the slightest, I mean just look at me."

"You are cute, don't deny it!" Otto huffed before pausing.

"Um...would it be too fast if I kissed you? It would be a small one so..."

Mandarin thought on it.

"Hmmm well I would say yes but...not anymore." He said.

Otto smiled before giving him a small peck on the lips before nuzzling him.

"So would it be okay if I slept here more often than usual?" Otto asked.

Mandarin snickered.

"Of course. Just don't snore."

Otto saluted.

"Yes sir!" He said before kissing him again, his time on the nose.

Mandarin leaned into the touch, almost craving the affection before the two curled up with each other. Otto stroked Mandarin's belly as the orange monkey rested against the pillows.

"Hi cuties. Your mommy went outside and he did very good. He's also a cutie patootie pants." Otto cooed.

Mandarin rolled his eyes.

"I keep telling you I'm not cute!" He scoffed.

"To me you are!"

Outside their door as the two continued to banter, a very steaming mad green monkey with purple eyes listened in.

 _"Otto you better not hurt our mom and break his heart. He's already had so much thrown at him he doesn't need you potentially hurting him!"_ He angrily thought before going to brush his teeth.

* * *

The lab halls were empty as the robots were shut down for the night. They tried to leave and find their subject, but something from the main computer always stopped them to the point where they had to re make the plan from the previous memory wiping. It was like they were repeating the same moment over and over and they could never notice it. One of them did and he was currently trapped inside one of the old tubes that brainwashed the monkeys.

"Let me out you-you-failure!" He barked harshly as a large wheel chair was near the control pad.

"Hmm nah not happening." A purple robot monkey said with a smirk.

The robot glared harshly as he pushed a few buttons, preparing something.

"When the others find out what you're doing they'll-they'll-they'll throw you out without the subject's wheelchair!"

"I can crawl you know."

"We'll break your arms!"

"Or I can get help. I ain't like them you know, cause you thought I'd be too useless." The robot monkey said with a smirk.

This was true, when he was turned into a robot monkey everything seemed to be okay. He walked out for five steps and then collapsed. The robotization damaged his nervous system, causing him to only walk five steps. The robots deemed Oscar useless and tossed him aside before the initial brainwashing could commence. However it was probably a bad idea to keep all of the information on engineering and science in him as he quickly grew to adapt thanks to the wheel chair his mother left behind. Bad idea on the robots part.

"Why? Why are you even doing this? Do you want Project Artemis to fail and have the Skeleton King loose to those lessees? After all of the greatness he has done?" The robot asked.

Oscar looked up at him and shrugged.

"Well yeah but I'm trying to help you. You didn't always acted like satan's hell spawns." He pointed out before going back to working.

The robot gripped his claws against the glass.

"What do you mean?" He asked, seething with the artificial anger that was placed in his programming.

Oscar looked up again and frowned.

"You didn't know? I thought all of you knew."

"Knew what you conniving little demon?!"

Oscar held up a poster. It was a hospital with several of the robots on it and a few doctors. He pointed to a robot on the far left.

"That's you buddy. 84 was it? You helped people back then before Skeleton King took you guys and turned you into monsters. Programming you with aggressive emotions, having an urge to keep getting Mandarin pregnant, brainwashing and robotizing his babies, and the idea of doing whatever it takes to keep him down here. Including abuse, wow by the way. I'm only trying to help you turn back to what you used to be."

84 was awfully confused at this revelation. Skeleton King said he created them, made them from scratch.

"Wh-" 84 tried to speak but so many conflicting thoughts silenced him.

"You don't get it right now, that's fine. Besides I'm gonna need some help with resizing this baby and eventually helping the other robots." Oscar chirped before pressing a few buttons.

Wires were placing in the back of the robot's head. He tried to struggle but restraints held him back. A sudden electric shock went through him as all of the aggressive nature and evil was drifting away. Soon after the door to the tube opened and the robot stumbled out.

Oscar waited until he held himself up.

"So? How ya feeling?" He asked.

84 looked at him.

"Much better." He said, his voice sounding much kinder.

* * *

Oooh things are getting interesting! Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

Ok yes this is a shorter chapter than the others...but I thought you may need to take a break from such long ass chapters. As for this chapter in particular things get a little...interesting. Please enjoy.

* * *

Antauri and Chiro were scouting the city the day after their outing, looking to see if any of the brainwashed monkeys were around. So far nothing, but their hopes were still high.

Chiro looked at the lab entrance and shivered at the sight of it. Just seeing that horrid place made his skin crawl.

"You don't think they happen to be down there right? I mean just looking around?" He suggested to Antauri.

"We would have to take the entire team down in order to do that Chiro. We wouldn't want to run into the robots again by ourselves." Antauri advised.

Chiro nodded slightly and looked down.

"I just have this weird feeling that...that one of them is down there. I don't know why I just do." He said softly.

Antauri looked over at the entrance and stared at it for a while. As if searching for answers.

"I sense it too Chiro, however we will need a plan if we try to investigate." He said.

Chiro silently agreed, they can't just storm down there and search.

"One things for certain, the children can never know it's location. They must never go down there." Antauri said seriously.

"Oh of course." Chiro agreed.

However he couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive for some reason.

* * *

Chiro and Antauri returned to the robot where some of the kids in the command center playing around. Penny noticed them and rushed up to the two.

"Hi! Didja find my brothers and sisters today?" She asked, bouncing a bit.

Chiro shook his head and smiled sadly.

"Penny we told you they were at the castle across the bridge. We tried to find them in the city but no."

Penny sighed heavily and leaned her whole body forward. She knew she had brothers and sisters from the conversations she overheard, but why were they living with Skeleton King? He's mean and nasty!

"Man you'd think they'd be in the city at least looking around? Did you find them on your night patrols Otto?" Nova asked, scratching her head.

Otto shook his head as he stopped tinkering.

"No...I wish I did." He answered sadly.

Angela raised a bracelet up.

"Penny your bracelet is ready!" She called.

"Kay!" Penny called back before looking at a worried Gibson.

"We have to keep the look out in case a few of them do. If Skeleton King ships them all out into the city at once they have to be stopped!" Gibson wheezed.

"Gibson calm down. They're still over at Skeleton king's fortress, the city is still safe." Antauri said.

Penny frowned.

"Safe from what? What does Skeleton King want them to do?" Penny asked nervously.

Chiro and Antauri froze up and looked at each other.

"Penny, Skeleton King wants them to do something...very bad. It would be something that...we just can't let them do those bad things and help them before anyone got hurt." Chiro explained as Angela looked off to the side and frowned.

Penny noticed her sister's change in mood and looked back at them.

"Well what bad things do they want to do?" She asked, curiosity taking over.

Chiro patted her head.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, now I'm going to look at the scanners." He said, not wanting Penny to know.

Antauri nodded and went to his room for meditation. Penny frowned and tapped her foot. There's something they're not telling her, she wants to know what's going on! Then Kuzon hopped up.

"Wait is that event thing still going on at the bunker?" He asked Gibson.

"It should, why?" He asked.

Kuzon got to his knees and clasped his hands together.

"Please let me go! I heard there's gonna be a lot of paintings and artworks down there and I wanna see them!" He begged, making Gibson chuckle.

"I said I'll talk to the team about it, but you have to be on your best behavior."

"I will! I swear I will!" Kuzon said, placing a hand on his chest.

Penny smiled and went over to them.

"Can I go too Gibby? I wanna see some pretty drawings too."

Angela looked over at them.

"Is it okay if I go too? I got nothing else to do this evening." She said with a small shrug.

Gibson looked between the three and sighed.

"I will talk to the others, but you need to keep an eye out on your sister." He said to Angela.

Angela nodded.

"Sure no problem." She said.

Penny bounced in place with a huge grin. This was gonna be so fun!

* * *

The team agreed for Gibson to take the three kids with him as they went out of the robot and through the streets. They passed by the lab entrance as Angela

"Is Aurora gonna be there too?" Penny asked.

"I asked her and she said she'll try to be there on schedule." He said.

Penny smiled, she loved Aurora six. She was so cool.

They turned a corner as they arrived to the the bunker, which was surrounded by many people.

"What time does it start again?" Angela asked.

"In about fifteen minutes."

Kuzon smiled and looked at the sign, advertising the event.

"It's so amazing that with the war still going on people still have time to do this stuff." He said.

"It helps when Skeleton King hasn't had any activity in the past few months either. Still we have to keep on our guard." Gibson pointed out.

Kuzon nodded before hearing a lot of commotion. The crowd's attention was on a green robot monkey with red eyes, holding a bag of what seemed to be machine parts. Her eyes widened at the crowd.

"Shit." She muttered before beginning to run off.

Gibson quickly ran after her.

"Wait! Stop!" He called out.

Penny narrowed her eyes before realizing.

"Trixie!" She squealed before running after her.

"Penny wait!" Kuzon yelled, going after her.

Violet talked about Trixie a bit, so seeing her here was so cool! Angela stared at Trixie for a long time.

Trixie's hand turned into a cannon and began firing at Gibson.

"I've been compromised I repeat I've been compromised!" She said into her communicator before blasting off.

Gibson was about to fly after her when a sudden blast nearly hit him. Trixie flew up next to a pink robot monkey, who began scolding her for lack of stealth. She turned to the other monkeys and glared at them before they flew off. Gibson stared up at the two, feeling defeated.

Kuzon rushed up to him and hugged him from the side.

"Gibson are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

Gibson frowned but exhaled through his nose, calming himself down.

"Yes I'm fine."

Kuzon looked up at the sky.

"So was that our sisters?" He asked, figuring the pink monkey was Artemis.

Gibson sighed.

"Yes."

The three were silent before Penny asked, "Do we have to go home now?"

Gibson shook his head.

"No I'll call the team to trace them, come on it's about to open." He said as they went back to the bunker.

Angela looked back up at the sky, hoping to see even a glimpse of them.

* * *

The event turned out to both take place up above and in the bunker itself. Penny walked with Gibson looked at all of the artwork as Kuzon stayed at one piece of artwork for several minutes before going to the next one.

Angela meanwhile, sat at the food table, just thinking about what happened and the labs location. She needed to see it for herself, she needed to. Angela read where the lab's location was, and it was nearby. Angela closed her eyes, frowning. She has to see it. Angela then got up and began to walk upstairs. Penny looked at her before telling Gibson she's gonna see Angela.

"Ange! Where ya going? The party's right here." She said.

Angela almost looked startled at her but settled.

"Just walking around..."

Penny narrowed her eyes. Her voice sounded off, almost like...

"Wait what are you planning?" She asked, smirking.

Angela began to sweat.

"What do you mean?"

"You're up to something. I wanna see what."

Angela looked around, she really didn't want Penny to tell anyone what she wanted to do but...

"Are you gonna see what Trixie was doing with all of that stuff?" Penny asked.,

Angela stiffened but nodded, going with it.

"Er yeah."

Penny smiled a bit before frowning, thinking of Chiro and her's conversation earlier.

"Nobody's telling me what they want to do. I want to know so maybe I could help, not fight but maybe help them get better. I wanna know." She said.

Angela then got an idea. If the team wasn't gonna tell her at least in a way she'd understand then Angela will.

"I bet I know." She said with a sneeky smirk.

Penny looked up.

"Huh?"

Angela leaned down to her.

"How about we go and I'll explain what they want to do." She offered.

Penny smiled hugely before Gibson came over.

"Angela you know the oil paintings over there may interest you." He said, motioning towards one side of the room.

Angela had to think of a plan and quick.

"Uh Gibson is it okay if Penny and I took a... walk?" She asked.

Gibson raised an eyebrow.

"Where to?" He asked.

Angela held back the nervous tone that would come out of her voice.

"J-just a-around and we'll be right back." She nervously answered.

Penny looked between the two. Why was she lying?

Gibson stared at Angela and thought on it.

"Okay...but stay around the proximity and stay to where the allies are on guard." He said.

"Okay, c'mon." Angela said before the two went up and out of the bunker.

Gibson had a really bad feeling about this so he turned on his communicator.

"Chiro? Keep an eye on Angela and Penny. Angela's up to something."

Angela was a terrible liar.

* * *

Angela searched for the lab opening until she came across the alleyway. Penny shivered.

"I don't like alleys Ange, meanies are always hiding in them." She said.

"Don't worry there's no one here." Angela assured her sister as she opened the hatch.

Penny nervously looked inside.

"Are you sure about this? It's creepy and dark down there."

Angela looked back at her sister and gave her a comforting look.

"Don't worry, anyone that's down there is already shut off. We'll be fine." She said as she took Penny's hand.

The two went down the staircase and into the kitchen.

Penny looked around as Angela smiled.

"Here we are! Welcome to the lab! What do you think?" She asked Penny.

Penny hesitated a bit. She found this whole place to be creepy and weird to her and she didn't get why. Maybe it was the fact it was too dark to her liking.

"Uh it's nice." She said.

Angela looked around, awed by the interior. So this was the place, where she was born.

"Yeah kinda homey to be honest. Come on let's look around." She said, taking Penny's hand.

Meanwhile Chiro was on their trail until they got to the labs.

"What is she doing?!" He exclaimed as Angela opened the hatch door.

"More importantly why is she bringing Penny down there? Don't they know that place is dangerous?!" Nova exclaimed.

Violet shook her head.

"I don't think Penny does but I have no idea what Angela's thinking right now." She said.

Maurice watched Angela and glared. What the hell is going through her head right now?

Mandarin wearily watched the two. Sure the robots were shut off right now but that doesn't mean the security feature may let out a silent alarm.

"We need to get them out of there. I'll get her." Maurice said before turning..

The others turned to him in shock.

"Wait a second you can't! That place is just as dangerous to you as it is for them. Let us handle it." Chiro said.

Maurice looked back at them.

"Chiro I'm getting the feeling that she's not thinking clearly right now. Why I have no clue, but she'll listen to me if I get her." He said as Violet went over to him.

"I'm going too. I know that place better than you so we won't get lost." She said.

"Violet not you too!" Sprx whined.

Nova turned to Mandarin. He's their mother, maybe they'll listen to him. Maurice maybe not so much but maybe it could be enough to at least knock some sense into him.

"Mandarin please say something to them." She said.

Otto frowned a bit but looked at Mandarin. Mandarin was awfully silent for a while as Violet eagerly waited and Maurice just stared. Mandarin then sighed and looked towards the two.

"Get them out of there as quickly as you can. There's a silent alarm that might be triggered if you're there too long I'm not sure. Avoid the brainwashing section like the plague that it is and don't touch anything else. Keep your communicators on so we can hear what's going on." He told them, causing Sprx to throw his hands in the air and most of the other's mouths to drop.

Violet nodded and smiled.

"Got it, come on!" She said as Maurice and Violet rushed out.

"No stop! Mandarin!" Chiro huffed turning towards him.

"What was that?!" He demanded.

Mandarin didn't look at him.

"Maurice is right. Angela's mindset is very off at the moment but she may listen to them. Besides the last time you were down there the robots were about to kill you. If they are unable to get her and Penny out then you'll have to go get them and be quick about it." He explained.

Jinmay couldn't help but nod.

"I agree, she's been so quiet lately and been kept up in her room, talking about reading something. Someone needs to talk to her."

The others looked down. That was true, in the past few days she's been less social and has been acting off. So really this was just coming to a head.

"You don't think...you don't think she may go with Skeleton King right?" Otto asked fearfully.

Antauri clutched his shoulder and gave him a serious look.

"We won't let that happen."

* * *

Uh oh, what does Angela have planned? Find out in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

Hey I am so sorry for lack of updates! My birthday came around and I got really busy with school too. That and I'm currently fighting allergy season so fun fun fun! Well here's part 2 of Angela taking her sister to the labs. Enjoy!

* * *

Penny and Angela continued to walk around.

"So what is this place?" Penny asked.

"It's kinda where we're from." Angela shrugged.

Penny felt chills going up her spine, but it wasn't very cold in here. She wearily looked around..

"It is? Kinda creepy." She shuddered.

Angela looked straight ahead.

"I don't think so, I think it's sorta neat to see where you come from."

Penny looked at her before looking ahead.

"So are we finding our brothers and sisters that aren't with Skelly?" She asked.

"Eh sort of. We're also looking to see what Skeleton King wants to do. That's what you want to know right?" Angela asked as they went past what was Mandarin's room.

"Uh yeah but...is that a giant bed?!" Penny asked before going into the room and crawling on it.

Angela went into the room and looked around.

"This must have been mom's room." She said with a small smile as she looked at a giant locking system on the door.

"It's so big!" Penny giggled as she jumped on it.

Angela snickered before looking back out.

"Come on let's keep looking around."

The two kept looking around until Angela came across the nursery.

"Hey Penny look in here! It's the nursery."

Penny peeked in.

"Wait what?" She questioned, an eyebrow raised.

Angela looked at the incubators with the names on them.

"Look I think this one's mine! Aww I must have been so tiny." She said with a smile.

Penny looked up at the name tag.

'Subject Ang-23'

"We were right here?" Penny asked slowly.

"Yep where we slept. Until mom took us to the team of course."

Penny looked at all of the other incubators.

"Then, what about the other babies?" She asked.

The two heard small footsteps and turned to Violet and Maurice.

"There you are!" Maurice said before looking around the place with disgust and weariness.

Angela frowned.

"Great here comes the fun police." She huffed.

Maurice and Violet then entered the room as the purple monkey looked around.

"The scanners showed you going down here but I didn't think you of all people would..." His voice trailed off as Penny walked up to him.

"Angela what were you thinking bringing Penny to the laboratory?!" Maurice demanded, whispering the last part.

Angela looked down and glared.

"Penny wanted to know what our siblings wanted to do, so I brought her here." She huffed before kicking a rock.

Penny looked up at Maurice.

"Mo, were we really born here?" She asked.

Maurice stared at her before looking at Angela.

"How much did you tell her?" He demanded.

Angela gripped her fists and glared.

"What? Do you mean about the bad things? Like how this bad place is where bad people come to breed more bad monkeys to destroy the city?! Is that what you're talking about?!"

Penny's stomach lurched and she fearfully looked at Violet.

"Our brothers and sisters want to destroy our home?!" She asked.

Violet quickly looked at her before back at Angela.

"Angie! She's too young for this!" She said.

Angela shrugged and smiled.

"Oh but don't worry Penny everything will be just fine." She said sarcastically.

Maurice gritted his teeth.

"Angela." He warned.

"It'll all work out. We'll save the day as always!" Angela faked cheered.

The team back home had a really bad feeling about where this conversation was going.

"What is she doing?!" Gibson whispered.

"Shh." Mandarin shushed him before looking back intently at the screen.

"Angela stop." Violet begged as Penny backed up a bit as Angela got closer.

Something was seriously wrong with Angela, Penny knew this already. She saw the pain in her eyes, something that she has never seen before.

"Then we'll shut this place down so no one will ever-"

"Angela!" Maurice yelled.

"-make more parasites like me!" Angela finished before Maurice got in front of her.

Penny's stomach sank. So that's what she thought of herself?

"Angela that's enough!" He yelled before Angela stomped out of the room.

Penny fearfully looked after her before looking at Maurice.

"Mo?"

Maurice leaned down to her.

"Penny I'm sorry, I never wanted you to see any of this." He said as Penny eyed Angela.

Angela glared as she grabbed a thing of wires.

"Then why don't you just leave!" She yelled as she tried to hit him.

Chiro quickly got up.

"That's it I'm going in there." He said before rushing off.

"Chiro wait!" Nova called out before following him.

Otto watched the two leave before looking back at Mandarin. He watched the screen intently, biting on one of his fingers.

Maurice dodged Angela and glared.

"Admit it, we're all just embarrassments to you!" Angela accused, trying to whip him again.

Violet rushed over to her.

"Angela hold on-!" She said before Angela pushed her to the side and continued after him.

"I don't want to fight you!" Maurice said, grabbing a pole from the side.

"Yeah right, wouldn't want to fight me even though we were born from a super villian!" Angela growled before grabbing another pole and began to attempt to whack him.

During the midst of their fighting, Angela missed Maurice and it hit what seemed to be a large pile of heavy machinery in between two doors. One of the smaller prices fell off and the pile seemed to tilt and fell as the two kept fighting.

Maurice blocked each hit before being hit in the face.

"This isn't good...her mental state is worse than I thought." Mandarin muttered.

Antauri looked up at him.

"Agreed, we need to find some way to put her insecurities to rest before...before it's too late."

Mandarin didn't look at him.

"I will try to talk to her. I've been in the labs for so long, I may have some experience when talking to her." He said.

Antauri thought on it. Now that he thought on it, he sometimes would see the labs file missing and then reappearing an hour later. Could it be Angela reading it?

Maurice did his best to dodge her before tripping Angela with the pole.

"Angela stop this! There's no point to this!" He panted.

Angela slowly got up.

"I. Don't. Care!" She yelled before getting the wires back out and whipping them to hold onto the pole Maurice was holding.

Maurice groaned slightly as he tried to get it back.

Before he could drop it Angela's hands lit up.

"I'm not gonna let you stand there and remind me of everything I hate about myself!" She yelled before thrusting the wires and green energy flew on them before hitting the pole, sending Maurice back a bit.

He held himself up by his elbows and grimaced.

"I never asked for this Maurice." He heard Anglea choke out.

Maurice looked up at Angela, who was in tears.

"I never asked to be made for an army!"

Maurice looked up at her in concern and sympathy.

"Angela."

Penny and Violet quickly got in front of him.

"Angela please stop! I know you're upset but I don't wanna watch you two hurt each other." Penny said with tears in her eyes.

Before Violet could say something, Angela shook before darting over to the pile of metal, climbing over it, and going into another room.

Violet sighed as Penny stared after her, tears filling her eyes.

"Violet why was Angela trying to hurt Mo?" She asked.

Violet helped Maurice up and looked to her.

"I...I...she has problems with being born in here. Let's talk to her." She said before Maurice placed a hand on her chest.

"No let's leave her alone for now. She may not want to see us."

Violet glared before going over the pile.

"I don't care. She needs us." She huffed.

* * *

"That's odd." Mandarin finally said.

Otto looked up at him as Jinmay came back with Erin, who babbled all the way.

"What is?" He asked.

Mandarin watched as Violet climbed over the pile.

"The silent alarm should have awakened the robots but I don't see any of them. That and the lights should be automatically on too." He said.

Gibson placed a hand on his chin as Erin squealed when he saw Mandarin.

"Muh!" He babbled before trying to reach for him.

"Oh jeez he wants you bad!" Jinmay laughed as he placed him in Otto's arms.

Gibson eyed Mandarin as he placed a finger on Erin's cheek.

"Is there any way to look through the security cameras?" He asked.

Mandarin looked over him as Otto nuzzled the top of Erin's forehead.

"I would assume so, unless you want the robots to leave and attempt to destroy the robot." Mandarin said.

Gibson wasn't sure on that. If the security was this spotty then maybe the computer's' security was off as well.

He went over to the control panel and began to hack into the lab's computer. He was genially surprised when he got through each security measure.

"Well...let's see where Angela went." He said before searching through the security cameras until he came upon the room that Angela was in.

"There we go." He said softly as everyone looked up at the screen.

They watched as Penny and Violet went into the room where Angela was in, who was sitting in a room filled with monkey sized tubes.

"Angela I-" Violet began but was interrupted by Angela saying, "Go away, I'm bad and you shouldn't be around me."

Penny frowned.

"What? That's silly! Look I don't know what any of this really means but-"

"Yeah you don't, because if you did you'd know what I'm feeling." Angela said, going soft at the end.

Penny blinked before hearing Maurice climb over the pile. She turned to him as he hopped down.

"Mo, get in here you gotta help us." She said.

Maurice looked nervous.

"But I-"

Viole frowned and pointed at him.

"We all have to talk to her." She said.

Maurice looked at Angela, who still had her back to them. He sighed, unsure of how this will go as the three entered the room.

Penny hopped up next to her as Maurice sat a bit aways.

"Angela?" He asked but got no response.

He looked down at the ground.

"I had no idea this whole being born in a lab thing bothered you so much." He said.

Angela curled herself up even more.

"It didn't at first. I was more concerned about helping mom but then...am I just a number? Just a soldier in a blood hungry army?" She asked.

Maurice quickly turned to her.

"No of course not! None of us are!" He said getting up.

Violet nodded and crawled next to her and wrapped her arms around her older sister.

"Yeah, this was all Skeleton king's fault. He was the one who...hurt mom and forced him to have us. None of this is your fault, you didn't build this lab." She said.

Angela sniffled.

"B-but Antauri said that Chiro was chosen to destroy Skeleton king...so does that mean we were chosen to be apart of his army?"

Maurice sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Angela that doesn't mean that just because we were born for an army doesn't mean that's our destinies. They don't depend on how we are born, we choose what we do. You know that." Violet said softly.

Angela eyed the side, unsure.

"So look you're not just a soldier, heck you aren't even that. You're your own person." Maurice said.

Angela wasn't sure if he fully believed him about that but their comfort and forgiveness despite her lashing out was comforting in it of itself. She smiled and laughed a bit as she wiped her eyes. She then hooked her arms around Penny and Violet and pulled them close to her.

"And I'm supposed to be the mature oldest one, when did you two get so smart?" She asked as Violet scoffed.

"What are ya talking about? I've always been smart!" She huffed before playfully shoving her.

Penny giggled but then looked down. There was something still bothering her though.

"I thought when we found our mommy, everything would be all nice and happy. That we'd get to know him, get ready for the new babies, Skelly would go away and our big brothers and sisters would stay with us. I thought things were okay..not like this." She said softly.

Violet looked over at her and pulled her into the huddle.

"I know kiddo."

"Then why isn't it? Why is everyone so unhappy? Why is mommy so sad all the time and why is Maurice so mad at him? Did something happen?" Penny asked, tears brimming her eyes.

Maurice froze up as Angela and Violet looked at him.

"That's something you're gonna have to ask Maurice about." Violet said as Penny turned to him.

She crawled over to him and sat next to him. Penny tilted her head and her expression dropped.

"Maurice, don't you like mommy?" She asked innocently.

Maurice flinched back a bit as he tried to look away. Angela recovered from her previous broken stupor and crawled over to him.

"Maurice I really think we should talk about this." She said.

Maurice frowned.

"There's nothing to talk about."

Violet huffed and crossed her arms,

"Uh yeah there is and by talk we don't mean get into a yelling match and one of us pinning you against the wall. We're not gonna do that this time." She argued before sitting next to him.

Antauri frowned.

"Wait what is she talking about?"

"Did one of them try to get in a fight with Maurice over what happened a month ago?" Jinmay asked.

"Could be. Roland was pretty upset with him so..." Nova said.

Otto watched the screen before looking up at Mandarin. He stared intently at the screen, sympathizing with Maurice's resentment and turmoil. It still doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. It does but at the same time he can't get upset at him. How could he?

Maurice kept looking off to the side, frowning. Violet scooted over to him, wanting to get the abuse stuff out of the way first.

"Look I personally think you should talk to him about it. I mean I lived here but that doesn't mean I know everything. I don't know every single abuse the robots did to him or how bad it exactly got. I mean I'm only guessing some of the other things but..."

Maurice frowned a bit more.

"I get that they abused him, what I don't get is that why he didn't eventually just snap and fought them." He said.

"Because you don't know how abuse can work! It's not just the physical, it's the mental and emotional." Angela said.

Violet nodded as Maurice looked at them.

"I figured someone as smart as you would get that but apparently not." Angela sighed before realizing Penny was still in the room.

"Oh Penny maybe you should wait-"

Penny shook her head.

"No I'm okay. I wanna know what happened." She said, laying on her stomach.

Angela nodded, now having to be careful of the things she'll say. She looked back to Maurice, who was now fully paying attention.

"Maurice, erm sometimes someone, well, I mean a-"

Violet jumped into the conversation, wanting to get to the point.

"The robots manipulated mom into staying here Maurice. They made him feel like this whole having tons of babies for an army thing was his purpose and his punishment. Plus back then they probably beefed security up a lot more than now apparently." She said looking around.

Angela nodded and her face dropped a bit. She wrapped an arm around Maurice and pulled him in.

"They really hurt him Maurice. Why do you think he was acting so funny when he first came here?"

Maurice's face softened, now starting to fully see where they were coming from. If someone like the robots can make someone like Mandarin give in to staying here for so long, no wonder the team was so scared of them.

"I...I had no idea." He said softly.

Violet nodded, glad he was starting to understand..

"Only because you had no idea what really went down here."

Maurice looked off to the side again.

"Still...I still can't help but feel a bit hurt that I was just basically left there with Kuzon with only name tags and that his past..." He said.

Violet groaned and fell back, she almost had him! Angela patted her head.

"Like Violet said Maurice, that's something you're gonna have to talk to mom about. But what happened between him and the team was a long time ago, it's different now." She said.

"It still happened and it still hurts the others. I mean you see how wary they were around him when he came here." Maurice said, laying down.

He had a point there, the team didn't really warm up to him that much at first except for Otto.

"True, but that's between them. Besides it's gotten better now." Violet said.

Penny nodded.

"He ain't a meany Mo! He isn't like that bony monkey we once saw."

"Jeez don't remind me!" Maurice wheezed.

"Oh so they know about him." Mandarin muttered.

Otto nodded slightly.

"Yeah...we didn't say it was Mandarin

2, they only saw a image of him."

"Ah."

Angela giggled.

"So really Maurice it's gotten better between them and he isn't evil anymore. So isn't that enough?" She asked.

Maurice stared at the ceiling.

"I guess but...it still hurts."

"I know, but you know why he did it." Violet said to him.

Maurice bit his lip as a lump started to form in his throat.

"Yeah.." He choked out.

At that moment Mandarin's heart broke hearing the tone in his son's voice. Otto saw the hurt expression on his face and snuggled up with him. Erin giggled loudly.

"Hey no tears cutie butt!" He huffed as Mandarin snickered.

"Otto please!"

The two heard low growling as they turned to a pissed off Roland.

"Roland! What's wrong?" Otto asked.

Roland glared at him.

"Don't you dare hurt my mom." He huffed.

Otto and Mandarin looked at each other. Roland saw his siblings on the screen and his eyes widened.

"Where the heck are they?" He asked Antauri.

What was that about? Why was he so angry with Otto all of a sudden?

Antauri sighed, not noticing his sudden aggression towards Otto.

"Your eldest sister brought Penny down to the labs for whatever reason and-"

"What are they doing down there?!" Roland exclaimed, both worried and scared.

"Like I said we do not know the reason why but Violet and Maurice are talking to each other."

Roland raised an eyebrow as Maurice and the others continued to talk.

"So he's actually talking this time?" He asked.

"Yep, by the way what happened between you and Maurice?" Antauri asked suspiciously.

Roland froze up and laughed nervously, knowing he was in trouble.

"Oh, about that..."

* * *

"We gotta get back. The robots could wake up due to the silent alarm." Maurice said getting up.

Angela nodded before her face drooped.

"Oh I'm in so much trouble." She realized.

"You think?" Violet snickered before seeing Penny's worried face.

"Am I gonna be in trouble too?" She asked, her lower lip trembling.

Violet shook her head and held her close.

"Oh no Penny you didn't know about this place. I doubt the team's gonna ground you over this and if they try to we can talk to them." She said.

Penny sniffled and wiped her face with her arm.

"Okay, I didn't know this place was bad." She said.

 _"Not till now no thanks to me."_ Angela thought.

The others left the room and began to look for the exit when they came across Nova and Chiro searching through the rooms. Nova looked over at them and sighed heavily.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" She said as the two went over to the kids.

Angela looked away as Penny ran over to Nova.

"Nova! Can we leave now?" She asked as Nova picked her up.

Nova nodded and looked at Angela, who couldn't even look at her.

"When we get home we're going to have a talk with you young lady." Nova said sternly.

Angela sighed and closed her eyes.

"I know..."

Violet looked between her and Maurice.

"What about us?" She asked.

"Don't worry about it you two are fine, lets just get out of here." Chiro said.

"Yeah this place is giving me the creeps." Maurice shivered.

The others began to walk towards the exit. As Penny looked over Nova's shoulder she could have sworn she saw a light not too far away. What was it?

* * *

"Are you sure not intervening was a good idea?" 84 asked.

Oscar nodded as he sipped on a juice box.

"Yep."

"Why? They could help you get out of here." 84 pointed out.

Oscar nodded but looked at the screen where the robots slept.

"I can't leave yet. I still have to keep these robots here as long as I can. Besides, and you can disagree with me on this, but I kinda like it here. It's homey once you get past the robots...no offense."

"None taken."


	14. Chapter 14

Welcome to another long chapter, this time a self conscious Mandarin! Fun for everyone! Please enjoy!

* * *

Mandarin rested his head against the pillow as the team were talking to Angela and the other children upstairs. Kuzon just came back after Aurora six dropped him off, completely unaware of what happened. So it was kinda surprising to say the least.

"I just wish I could have been there to help." Was his first words after explaining what happened.

 _"How they raised them to be so kind in such a short time is incredible, much better than what I could have done."_ Mandarin thought as he laid on his side..

He wanted to talk to Angela, Roland, and Maurice, he really wanted to but after Chiro and the children left the lab his depression was starting to get the better of him as exhaustion took over. Mandarin had to be forced to go to bed due to being so exhausted and he hated it. He wanted to actually parent his own children but- argh this was so frustrating!

Mandarin groaned as he turned over, feeling so useless. He needed to talk to Angela about this soon, if not it would end badly. However Antauri assured him that Angela's feelings will be addressed but Mandarin still felt he had to help. She is his daughter after all. He then inwardly groaned as he stroked his belly. The twins decided it would be a fun idea to keep their mother up all night. He sighed as he looked down at his stomach and cringed when he saw the scars. The robots had to perform c-section after c-section and it showed. Mandarin traced one of the bigger scars with his finger and tears immediately started to form. How could Otto say he was cute when he looked like this? With all of these ugly scars, white sheet complexion with dark circles under his eyes, and this. He placed one hand on the top of his huge stomach, where one of the twins was kicking. He just felt so heavy and large, even moreso now. It was really starting to bother him, however he couldn't blame the twins for that.

Mandarin sniffled as he wiped his eyes, feelings of self consciousness and self loathing took over. Back then he wouldn't care so much about any of this but after being in the labs, he just felt so hideous and freakish. That and being kicked awake in the middle of the night was so stressful and he can't stop crying all the time and he was just so hungry! He just wasn't himself anymore and he hated it!

Mandarin's body wracked with sobs as he tried to silence them. The door soon opened and Otto hopped into bed.

"Okay so we took care of Angela and Maurice. Maurice is probably gonna talk to you tomorrow and Angela's grounded for three we-" he began to explain when he heard a sob escape from Mandarin's lips.

"Mandy?" He asked as he touched his back.

Otto waited for a response before crawling around the bulky primate to get a better look at him. When he saw the tears streaming down from his face, Otto quickly went up to him and began to wipe his face.

"Don't cry cutie." He said softly, causing another sob to escape Mandarin.

Otto was confused at his response but rested his head against Mandarin's.

"It's okay...whatever's making you sad it's okay." He comforted.

Mandarin shook his head.

"No it's not.."

Otto tilted his head.

"Then what is it? You want me to get the others?" He asked.

"No! No just stay here." Mandarin begged, snuggling up with Otto.

Otto blinked and brushed his hand against his face gently.

"Then what is it?" He asked, really wanting to help.

Mandarin sniffled and sighed.

"It's meaningless." He said softly.

"Not if it's making you cry!" Otto exclaimed before nuzzling him.

Mandarin bit his lip.

"Why are you so hell bent on helping me every time I get like this?"

Otto smiled and kissed him briefly before saying, "Because I love you."

More tears slipped from Mandarin's eyes, he was just too sweet!

"How can you love me when I'm like this? All depressing and disgusting." Mandarin sniffled.

Otto frowned a bit.

"You're not either of those things Mandarin. Why would you even think that?" He asked.

Mandarin didn't respond as Otto kept stroking his face. It then clicked in Otto's mind why he was crying.

"Oh...Mandy you know I don't care what you look like right?" He asked, nuzzling him.

Mandarin sniffled more before trying to speak, trying not to choke on his words. Otto pulled back and rested a hand on the other's cheek.

"You're still my Mandarin, no matter what you look like." He said with a warm smile.

"I understand that but-" Mandarin could barely get past that before continuing to weep.

Otto stroked his head, resting his own head above his, letting him continue.

"I mean t-these scars a-and my sickly pale complexion and m-my stomach size and just everything about pregnancy! I hate being like this! I hate it!" Mandarin choked out.

Otto shushed him as Mandarin slowly began to settle down. He thought about what he wanted to say to comfort him. He hated seeing Mandarin like this and Otto wasn't going to stand for what Skeleton King has done to make his love cry and hate himself. If Otto ever sees Skeleton King again, he will make him pay. Suddenly he thought of what to say.

"Yeah pregnancy doesn't sound that fun, especially with what happened to you." Otto began.

Mandarin nodded slightly, wiping his eyes.

"And all of these scars are pretty scary looking, but do you realize how much healthier you've been looking since you got here?"

Mandarin's thick brows furrowed in confusion.

"Huh?"

Otto pulled back from him and smiled.

"I mean really think about it. I haven't seen any of those dark circles under your eyes in a long time because you've been sleeping better. You're a lot less paler than before too, so that's a huge plus." He said.

Otto's tail then brushed over the c-section scars.

"And yeah these scars are there but they show that you've had lots of wonderful babies. Babies that live with us who we all love."

Mandarin's eyes trailed to his stomach. Otto rested his head under Mandarin's.

"Don't worry about your appearance so much Mandarin, you just look more like a mom." Otto said softly.

That did it, if Mandarin wasn't sobbing his eyes out before it was now escalated even more as he clutched Otto to him and sobbed hard.

"Oh no I'm sorry I didn't mean to make it worse!" Otto said as he began to kiss Mandarin's face.

Mandarin shook his head.

"It's not that!" He sobbed.

"I-what you said- I just love you so much!" Mandarin sobbed.

Otto smiled before nuzzling him.

"I love you too."

Mandarin's sobs echoed the room until they started to quiet down. Mandarin sniffled.

"I want to be myself again...I don't want to be this emotional wreck anymore. I want to actually be a mother to the children that I gave birth to."

Otto nodded and smirked.

"I know you do, but there's still parts of you in there you know. You still get easily embarrassed."

Mandarin ducked his head and grumbled.

Otto smooched his cheek before resting against him.

"Even if you may not be fully yourself ever again, we'll still love you. Besides you'll be at least a bit better soon."

"I know. I can't thank you enough." Mandarin sighed.

He flinched as one of the twins kicked hard. Otto noticed his annoyed expression and giggled.

"See? They love you too, they don't want you to cry." He chirped.

Mandarin snickered and rubbed his abdomen, attempting to soothe them.

The two shared a comfortable silence before Mandarin asked, "Did you really mean what you've said before?"

"Which part?" Otto asked.

"The part where you said that I just look more like..." His voice trailed off.

Otto smiled a bit.

"Like a mom? I sure did." He said.

A small smile grew on Mandarin's face as he averted his gaze towards his stomach. Otto tilted his head to look at him before the two kissed again. Mandarin kissed back as he placed his free hand on Otto's cheek. The two let go as Otto snuggled up even more with him.

"So sleepy time?"

"Oh yes no question about that. I think all of this crying has made me even more tired." Mandarin huffed as Otto went to turn the light off.

Otto giggled before turning the light off and hopping back into bed with him.

* * *

"You two are dating?! Since when?!" Sprx asked a few days after the lab incident.

"Since about a week or two ago." Otto said as Mandarin grabbed his fourths of breakfast, pancakes with cinnamon and frosting on them.

Sprx caught the two kissing when he came in for breakfast and being shocked was an understatement.

"Well why didn't you say anything?" The red monkey asked as Mandarin happily sighed.

"This is so heavenly." He said before continuing to eat.

Otto shrugged.

"I dunno, I guess it just never came up." He said before putting his dishes away.

Sprx blinked before looking over at Mandarin. Penny then rushed into the room and nearly slipped.

"Ah! Who put grease on the floor!?" She giggled before hopping up next to Mandarin.

"No one Penny, you just need to stop running so fast." Sprx huffed before smirking.

"I love being fast!" Penny huffed before nuzzling Mandarin's arm.

"Morning mommy." She chirped.

"Morning dear."

Penny continued to nuzzle him until Sprx set down a plate of pancakes for her, which she happily dug in.

Maurice soon entered the room, still looking somewhat sleepy.

"Morning mini Antauri." Sprx jokingly said.

"Mmm." Maurice replied, yawning.

Sprx looked out the door, waiting for Kuzon to show up.

"So where's your brother?" He asked, having a good idea of where he was.

Maurice snickered.

"You know him,"

"Still asleep." Both him and Sprx said at the same time.

Maurice yawned a bit and got into his chair, waiting for breakfast. He noticed Mandarin before looking back down. The two haven't really had that talk yet, but it wasn't as if Maurice was avoiding him now or anything. It's just the two have been busy with other things and at the fact that Mandarin's depression was still making it hard for him on some days.

Mandarin noticed this, leaned his hand over the table and booped his son's nose. Maurice quickly sat up and looked at Mandarin in confusion.

"Wha-?"

Mandarin snickered as Penny gasped with a smile.

"Mommy booped you!" She exclaimed as Mandarin snickered harder.

"M-why?" Maurice asked.

"I'm sorry." Mandarin sniggered as Otto clutched his heart at the cuteness.

Maurice blinked in just confusion.

"You're weird." He finally said, making Mandarin snicker harder.

Sprx couldn't help but snicker at the sight. It was just too cute.

Roland then dragged himself in, yawning.

"Mornin'." He grumbled as he looked up at the others.

He glared slightly at Otto before sitting down in between them. Sprx frowned a bit.

"Hey what's with the nasty stares kiddo?" He asked.

Roland grabbed his orange juice and began sipping on it.

"Just don't hurt him." He said to Otto.

Otto looked around before his eyes laid on Mandarin. Then it clicked between the two.

"Ohhhh! Rolly you know I would never hurt your mommy right?"

Maurice frowned a bit.

"Yeah Roland he's too nice." He said.

Roland sipped his orange juice and frowned.

"I dunno...something still may happen. I don't want mom to get even more upset because of stupid romance drama..." He muttered.

Mandarin really felt for him as he stroked the top of his head. Roland looked up at him.

"I really do appreciate your concern, but I don't think you have anything to worry about." He said.

Roland was confused, his face crumpled up.

"He's been extremely wonderful with helping me and has been so kind. So him potentially hurting me emotionally just wouldn't make sense." Mandarin pointed out.

"Besides he's the hugest sweetie on the planet!" Penny chirped, causing Otto to rub the back of his head blushing.

"Guys please." He chuckled.

Roland looked down at the table, puffing the one side of his cheek up.

"Hmmm..."

Mandarin motioned towards Otto.

"Roland does this look like the face of a heartbreaker?"

Roland looked over at Otto, who gave him the sweetest face he could muster. Roland flinched back at his adorableness before sighing in defeat.

"No." He admitted.

Sprx patted his head.

"Then you have nothing to worry about, besides this is more of an adult thing anyway so I wouldn't get too worried anyway."

Roland sat back and crossed his arms.

"But I still don't want him to get hurt by something as stupid as romance...I know he's been through too much already." He grumbled.

Mandarin stroked his son's head, no doubt having his heart warmed hearing that.

"How the team raises you this well this quick I'll never know." He sighed.

Roland snickered and pointed up at him.

"You're a good mom you'd raise us just fine too." He said.

"Roland I've already cried last night I don't need to cry any more."

"Eh what about?!" Penny asked, worried.

"It was over a movie, it's dumb." Mandarin sighed.

"That ain't dumb! I cried over this one movie..."

Roland snickered as the two bantered before Otto caught his attention.

"I promise Rolly I won't hurt him. I really love him."

Roland pointed at him and frowned.

"I'm holding you to it!" He huffed.

Otto giggled then clamped his hands together over his head.

"Please don't treat me like an evil stepdad then. You know I'm not gonna be like them." He said, but smiled.

Roland looked off to the side, still frowning.

"I guess I was a little too harsh...sorry." He said, scratching the back of his neck.

Otto sighed in relief, finally. Maurice smirked as Sprx leaned on the table with one arm.

"Man, you really are a mini Mandarin." He breathed.

Roland quickly stood up and glared.

"Am not!" He snapped causing Sprx to laugh.

"Yes you are, see?!" He laughed.

Maurice placed a hand on his cheek and smiled sadly.

"It's kind of scary actually."

Roland glared harder and turned to Mandarin.

"Please tell them how wrong they are!"

Mandarin paused before tilting his head.

"Roland you shouldn't deny i-"

"Not you too!"

The others then got into a laughing fit over this before they realized someone else entered the room. Violet had her head hung low, but looked very tired.

"Mornings..." She growled before sitting at the table.

"Bad night?" Sprx asked.

"No I was in the middle of an experiment before I passed out." She huffed.

"Not this again."

"Yes this again." She grumbled as she laid her head on the table.

The team soon arrived after that. Mandarin looked over at Roland as he was talking to Kuzon. One down, two to go.

* * *

Trying to find a time to talk to Maurice was like talking to catch up with a person who is riding a bike. Not easy.

However as Mandarin slowly began to see, he didn't really need himself to initiate it. After his nap after breakfast he found Maurice on his bed, a serious look on his face.

"Hi?" Mandarin said in the form of a question.

"Hi." Maurice said, still looking serious.

The two were silent before Maurice asked, "Do you want to...I'm not sure do something? Like outside the robot?"

Mandarin sat up a bit and thought on it.

"I guess that would be alright...I'm still not one hundred percent comfortable..."

"Oh I know, we'd be going somewhere close to the robot." He said.

"Where exactly?" Mandarin asked, not too sure about this.

Maurice didn't answer at first, he just hopped off the bed. Maurice paused before looking back at him.

"It'll be easier to explain when we get there." He said, looking a little nervous but that could be due to them speaking to eachother.

Mandarin blinked but got up. At least he's talking to him now.

* * *

"You brought me to a sign." Mandarin said as he looked up at the sign leading into one of the underground bunkers.

The sign itself was just a broken down pub sign on its side, but it was next to what used to be the Shuggazoom subway.

"It's what's in it that I'm bringing you to." Maurice said as he started to go down the stairs.

When he didn't realize Mandarin was not following him he turned to look back. He looked awfully worried, peering into the unknown. Maurice realized why he was so worried.

"This is where the allies usually stay in. They live with the citizens that haven't left the planet to protect them. They'll protect you too...even though you haven't really met them." He said, muttering the last part.

Mandarin peered into the stairwell, his anxiety growing.

"But the citizens..."

Maurice waved his hand.

"Don't worry about them. They have to get used to you sometime, besides there's so many other things going on down here that I don't think you'll be too concentrated on that." He said.

 _"I'm not so sure about that."_ Mandarin thought before the two went down.

They were quickly met with a huge line of large venues, tents, and the railroad now being turned into a cart transport for many people to travel from bunker to bunker.

"Does Skeleton King know this place exist?" Mandarin asked, looking around and taking in all of the different sights and sounds.

"I don't think so and if he did the allies are sure keeping this place locked up. Chiro let them know we were coming." Maurice said.

Mandarin looked from him to the scene before him. The citizens didn't notice him yet but still he couldn't help but grow nervous.

"Now there's this food festival going on in the next bunker always a bit. Don't worry the cart will hold you but that's where I-" Maurice began before realizing Mandarin was backing up a bit.

He stopped when Maurice saw him.

"Oh no don't worry, no one here is going to hurt you. It'll be fine." He assured Mandarin.

Mandarin looked around before sighing.

"O-okay.." He said before following his son, ignoring all the fearful and confused stares that were thrown his way.

They got into the cart, which Mandarin made sure it would actually hold him, and they made their way into the next bunker. Maurice looked up at Mandarin as he into the distance. What the heck was he supposed to say right now? He had to say something.

"So um you and Otto that's...that's nice. I mean it makes sense and all..." Maurice said akwardly.

"Mm."

Maurice kept thinking of things to talk about. He had to keep talking!

"So the team said the nursery for the new babies is coming along great. They want your input though..."

"Whatever colors they like would be nice." Mandarin said simply.

Maurice shook his head and gave a small laugh.

"No seriously they refuse to decorate without your input. They're your babies." He said.

Mandarin sat back a bit, thinking.

"Well I guess we could have a split color scheme going...black and white could work." He suggested.

Maurice's mouth dropped.

"I have never heard of someone wanting to paint their babies room black." He said.

Mandarin snorted.

"Then you haven't met me yet." He said before Maurice laughed a bit.

"Ookay!" He said, eyeing the side.

Mandarin snickered at his son's expression.

"So okay we got paint down what about the other-"

"Maurice humor me for a second, something just came into my mind." Mandarin suddenly interrupted.

Maurice blinked but listened.

"I know the twins won't be identical. I know that, but why is it that parents dress their identical twins in the same clothes?" Mandarin asked.

Maurice was taken back by this but thought on it. What a random but surprisingly interesting topic to bring up, but whatever. Better than not talking at all.

"I heard it's easier for the parent but I think it's for the all for the cuteness or something." Maurice replied.

"It's not cute it's stupid! You would get so confused as to who's who! It's not worth it!" Mandarin ranted, causing Maurice to laugh.

"I-I guess. If you just dress them similar but have them in different colors maybe but the same exact thing? Where's their identities?"

"I know it's not what you want it's what your children want. I'm so happy I never have to worry about that, you don't need to wear clothes."

"Yeah you aren't one of those parents. Besides you can tell which twin is which with me and Kuzon pretty clearly." Maurice chirped before the cart came to a complete stop.

As they got out they realized they had other passengers with them as a mother and her two twin children came out of the cart. She looked at the two in disgust before walking off in a huff.

The husband mouthed a, "I'm sorry" before traveling behind her. The twins were also dressed the same. Maurice and Mandarin looked at each other before Mandarin began laughing.

"I didn't even realize they were behind us." Maurice said, feeling so guilty.

"Me either." Mandarin snickered.

Maurice put his hand on his face.

"I feel so bad." He wheezed.

"Don't be, we didn't know." Mandarin said, calming down.

The two then went into the festival, which was full of food and all sorts of goodies. Of course that meant that Mandarin's cravings and pregnancy appetite were at an all time high, not that Maurice was surprised. Maurice sat down at a picnic table, his feet already sore. Mandarin stuffed a pickle into his soft pretzel before sitting down, not on the seats.

"So I take it you're happy?" Maurice asked.

"Yes. Very." Mandarin said before eating.

Maurice sat back and stretched. That was good, now about that talk...

"Oh there you are."

Mandarin jumped and looked up at a anthropomorphic cat with a long white and pink dress.

Maurice smiled and got up to see her.

"Hello Nikita, I didn't know you were around here. I thought you guys would be in the next bunker over." He said.

Nikita motioned over a cat shaped stand.

"My people were selling some food so I stopped by." She explained before looking at Mandarin and her smile dropped.

"Oh I take it that is your..."

Maurice nodded.

"Yep that's him."

Mandarin tilted his head. How much has the team exactly told the allies about him?

Nikita smiled again, only this time with a bit of concern.

"Erm it's nice to finally meet you." She said.

"Same." Mandarin briefly said before biting into his pickle pretzel.

Nikita looked down at Maurice.

"He's not a social person." Maurice briefly said.

Nikita nodded and frowned.

"After what he's been through, that's more than understandable. I still cannot believe Skeleton King would do something so...vile and despicable!" She hissed.

"It's Skeleton King. But yeah..." Maurice sighed.

Mandarin finished his pretzel and sipped some mango juice. So they did tell them about his situation. Nikita placed something down in front of Mandarin. A small cup of some sort of liquid. Mandarin peered into it.

"Erm what is this?" He asked., suspiciously

"It's Laversh. It's a herbal drink that helps expectant mothers." Nikita explained.

Mandarin looked at her weirdly before picking up the cup with his telepathy and sipping it. His eyes widened before downing the whole cup down. He sighed and looked at the two with wide eyes

"Can I have ten more of these?" He asked, making Maurice laugh.

"You're not supposed to have too much but I can get you another cup." Nikita giggled before walking over to the cat like stand.

Maurice snickered and sat down, digging into his fries.

"You know I think there's a movie the team's gonna put on when we get back tonight. In case that interests you." Maurice suggested.

"Hmm I'll think on it." Mandarin said soflty.

After finishing their food and Mandarin being denied a fourth cup of Laversh, the two along with Nikita were making their way towards one of the fountains that the subway had.

Mandarin looked at Maurice as he was talking vividly with the cat woman about something Antauri was teaching him. Mandarin smiled a bit, happy that his son's spirits were lifted from a while ago.

"When the war is over do you think they'll ever open this place back up?" Maurice asked.

"I'm not sure if they will. You may want to ask the Hyperforce about that." Nikita said.

"Probably not but at least they should make this into something. It'd be a huge mistake for them to leave this place in ruins." Maurice said with a sad sigh.

Mandarin couldn't help but agree. This place looked so nice, much more nicer now than when he was leader of the team.

They got to the fountain as Mandarin sat down again, his back beginning to hurt from the twins.

Maurice looked over at a few of the other food stands before looking up at Mandarin.

"Do you need anything by any chance?" He asked.

"Not at the moment no, but thank you."

Maurice nodded and moved closer to Mandarin. He really wanted to talk to him but since Nikita was here that was going to be a bit difficult. He didn't want to be rude also but what else could he do?

"I'll be right back actually. I could use some pineapple juice." Mandarin said before getting up and going off somewhere. Maurice nodded.

 _"How am I supposed to talk to him in a place like this? With Nikita still around?"_ He thought.

Maurice thought on it as he suddenly saw something out of the corner of her eye. It was black and white...oh no. His eyes widened. Formless?!

"Wh-wha- what are they-?" Maurice tried to say.

Nikita turned to the small monkey with a assuring smile.

"Oh no, those are just men in costumes. They entertain people to forget about the fear that sticks with those monsters." She explained.

Maurice gulped as he saw two men in Formless costumes hand out balloons.

"So do not be afraid, they're harmless."

"It's not me I'm worried about." Maurice said before hearing a cup fall behind them.

They turned to see Mandarin staring right at the fake Formless, fear and confusion clouding his face. He backed up a step, the cup at his feet.

Maurice quickly got up and darted towards him.

"M-man-mom they're not real!" He said.

Nikita rushed next to him and nodded.

"Yes they're only entertainers. If Formless really were here the alarms would be going off." She explained.

Mandarin looked down at her, still worried.

"Are...are you sure?" He asked.

Nikita nodded.

"Yes it's fine. No one is here to take you back to the labs." Maurice assured him.

Mandarin blinked, staring at the fake Formless before sighing.

"See? It's fine." Maurice said with a small smile.

Mandarin placed a hand on his head, now frowning.

"There's nothing for you to worry about, now why don't we go back over to the fountain and-"

"What is wrong with me?" Mandarin growled slightly.

Nikita backed up a bit at his tone.

"I have fought these things for years and even worked alongside them. Now I'm terrified of them? How am I supposed to fight if I keep getting scared like this?!" Mandarin snapped, clenching his free hand.

Maurice and Nikita looked at each other.

"Mom you've been through a traumatic experience. These things take time to recover from." Maurice explained.

Nikita nodded.

"Maurice is right. You need to let the recovery process take its course." She said.

Mandarin clenched his fist even harder.

"But I don't want to cower before my enemies. I want to fight again, I want to get angry again! I need to get angry again! I want to bash Skeleton king's skull in but now I can't! Is it so wrong to want to fight again?"

Maurice felt like he was kicked in the stomach hearing that. Maurice placed a hand on his, reeling back a bit seeing how small it was in comparison.

"Of course not. It's natural to want to fight back against those who hurt you. I can completely understand that , but you're still recovering. Those kind of things take time and lots of care."

Maurice said then saw his mother's discouraged expression.

"Not to say that you won't be able to ever fight again. I'm sure that after you have the twins you'll probably be able to go back into battle, but only when you feel you are ready to." He assured.

Mandarin thought on it before sighing.

"I guess…it's still frustrating."

"I know." Maurice said softly.

Nikita smiled a bit.

"Besides, it wouldn't be a good idea to fight while you're still expecting." She said.

Mandarin looked down at his stomach and snickered.

"Well not any vigorous fighting anyway." He snickered.

"No!" Maurice yelped, causing Nikita to laugh.

"Maurice I was only jesting." Mandarin chirped.

"Still!" Maurice wheezed.

Nikita giggled before her ears perked up, hearing someone call her. She turned to see some of the other Kathorians waving at her.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry but my people are calling me." She said.

"That's ok, we were going to walk around a bit more before going back." Maurice said.

Nikita nodded and stepped back a bit.

"Well erm it was nice meeting you." She said to Mandarin.

Mandarin nodded slightly.

"Same." He said.

Nikita then said her goodbyes to Maurice before going to the others. Maurice and Mandarin stood there for a moment.

"So...erm.. is there any where else you wish to go to?" Mandarin asked.

Maurice's back straightened. Now was his chance!

* * *

Oooh boi, how do you think it'll turn out? Find out next chapter and thanks for reading.


	15. Chapter 15

Alrighty! Here we will hopefully get a resolution between Maurice and Mandarin. Please enjoy!

* * *

Mandarin grew confused as the place Maurice led him didn't really have any other people around. However he quickly got what Maurice was trying to do as the small orange monkey sat down against the wall. Mandarin sat down gently as well and stared into the distance.

"So I-" Mandarin began before Maurice interrupted him.

"I haven't exactly been treating you the best the past month. I'm sorry." Maurice said softly, looking down at the ground.

Mandarin quickly looked down at him.

"No Maurice-"

"Don't try to excuse it, I've been avoiding you and treating you so terribly! Why aren't you mad at me?!" Maurice asked, standing up, hurt prevalent on his face.

"Because I understood why you got so upset. I couldn't get mad at you because of how you felt." Mandarin said with a small smile.

Maurice hesitated before he kept talking.

"B-but I said I didn't even consider you as my mother, who even says those horrible things?" He asked, trying not to break down.

"Someone who was very upset over what happened and didn't understand why it happened before. I know you didn't mean it." Mandarin said softly.

Maurice flinched and looked off to the side. Mandarin gently pulled him into his side and stroked his head with his thumb. Maurice felt tears spill out of his eyes but quickly wiped them.

"I mean I know now the reason you felt why you had to stay in the labs and couldn't ask the team for help before. I know why you had to leave us with them, so why do I still feel this way? Why am I still so upset and hurt?" Maurice choked, clinging to Mandarin.

Mandarin kept stroking his back. He eyed the area to make sure no one was evesdropping before he looked back down at Maurice.

"I love you and your siblings more than anything. I never stopped worrying or thinking about each of you after I left you at the robot. I missed all of you so much it would ache." He said softly.

Maurice let a few tears stream down his face as he kept clinging to Mandarin.

"Believe me Maurice, if I had the guts to leave I would have, but…" Mandarin's voice trailed off.

Maurice shook his head.

"No don't apologize, I get it now." He sniffled.

Mandarin smiled before he brought Maurice closer. They then spent the next hour sitting there, talking about whatever.

Two down, one to go.

* * *

Of course the next day, his depression kept Mandarin in bed. Which frustrated him to no end because he really wanted to get up and tend to his children but his overwhelming feelings of being lethargic, unfocused and empty kept him from doing so.

" _Take it easy for today, treat yourself as if you're sick and rest."_ Antauri strictly told him.

Mandarin gripped his pillow a bit more.

"But I can't be sick forever…I can't do that." He grumbled to himself before closing his eyes.

It was at least fifteen minutes before he heard the door open. He felt a small figure hop onto the bed and crawl up with him.

"What is for breakfast Otto?" Mandarin asked, not opening his eyes.

"I'm not Otto you goofy butt!"

Mandarin shot his eyes open to see Penny smiling with a plate of waffles next to her.

"Penny what-?"

"I got you breakfast and juice." Penny pointed to the glass of orange juice on the night stand.

Mandarin looked towards the cup before looking back at her.

"You didn't have to bring it to me." He said, touched.

"I wanted to. Besides I heard you were having one of your sad days and I didn't-"

"Sad days?" Mandarin questioned, eyebrow raised.

Penny's smile dropped and nodded.

"Yeah. Jinmay said that some days you get so sad you can't get out of bed and I think Gibson called it something else but I forgot the name." She explained.

Depression. That was the name for it. Penny curled up next to him.

"Besides I guessed you were gonna be lonely so I'm gonna stay here." She declared, patting the bed.

Mandarin quickly shook his head and sat up a bit.

"Oh no I don't want you to waste your entire day taking care of me. You're supposed to be a child." He said.

"I can be one in here too. I can get my toys." Penny pouted.

Mandarin was about to say something but stopped. He really didn't want Penny's childhood to turn into one where she kept taking care of him because of his depression. He refused to let that happen but...still….

"Would you really be that okay with staying here?" He asked.

Penny blinked and dug her face into his chest.

"I wanna stay with you mommy."

Aaaaand the water works were already flowing. Great. Mandarin quickly wiped his tears as Penny brought over the plate.

"Here! Have some waffles!" She chirped, holding up the plate.

Mandarin fully sat up and took the plate from her. He began to eat as Penny went to go get her toys.

"This is actually pretty good." He said as Penny placed her dolls and other toys on the bed before hopping up.

"I know! Gibson's the best cooker!" She said as she placed two of her dolls in a large tank.

"Well he did say that cooking was a science in a way."

Penny giggled and began to play army gals, something she made up. Suddenly her smile dropped as she began thinking.

"So when the two babies get here, are you gonna…are you gonna fight Skelly with everyone else?" Penny asked.

Mandarin paused before looking down at her.

"It will depend on how well I am by then but hopefully. Why?" He asked.

Penny was silent for a moment, looking worried.

"Are you gonna be okay? I mean I don't want you to get hurt." She said.

Mandarin stroked the top of her head.

"I think so, I'll have to create better armor because this one won't work. Besides I have this very odd feeling that Skeleton king wouldn't want to destroy me or even harm me." He said assuringly.

Penny frowned.

"Why's that? He's mean!" She huffed.

Mandarin's hands shook as he place one on his stomach. Because he knows that if he loses, Skeleton king would still want to use him to create soldiers again. He can't let that happen again.

"Reasons I don't think you need to worry about right now. He'll be taken care of soon enough." Mandarin shakily said, not wanting her or himself to worry about it.

Penny sensed this and nodded. There actually was something she was thinking about for a while, ever since they found out that Mandarin was their mom.

"Also um…you won't get mad at me when I tell you what I want to be when I grow up will you?" She asked, fidgeting.

Mandarin frowned, awfully confused.

"Of course not. Why?" He asked.

Penny twiddled her fingers some more.

"Cause um apparently I heard when I'm older I'm gonna have to train to fight with everyone else and…I don't like it."

He saw this conflict coming from a mile away. Honestly he was just surprised this conflict is brought up now instead of when Penny was older.

"Do you want to fight when you get older?" Mandarin asked, only to have Penny quickly shake her head.

"No! That's the thing, I don't wanna fight anyone! I'm a…a…what's that p word?"

"A pacifist?" Mandarin guessed.

Penny looked up at him and snapped her fingers. Now she remembered!

"Yeah! That's the word Gibson's dictionary had. I just hate the idea of hurting people, even guys like Skelly or the bony monkey. I just can't do it."

Mandarin nodded a bit, understanding her feelings. He then placed a finger on his chin.

"Hmm, then what do you want to do?" He asked with a small smirk.

Penny's smile came back.

"I wanna be a nurse-no doctor-no nurse-no nurse then doctor-no! Both!" She said excitedly, making Mandarin snigger.

Penny rolled onto her stomach and held her head up with her hands.

"I just really want to help people without hitting them, so being one or both of those things is perfect. You don't mind that I won't fight right?" She asked nervously.

Mandarin shook his head and pulled Penny closer to him.

"No, I think it's fine that you want to help without resorting to violence. Working in healthcare is a wonderful idea."

He then pulled her back a bit so he could look at Penny in the eye. Or try to, seeing how small she was compared to him.

"However I still think you should at least need to learn self defense. Just so that you can protect yourself." He said.

Penny frowned a bit and rubbed her arm.

"I dunno, I still don't like hurting anyone…"

Mandarin picked her up and kissed the top of her head.

"I know you don't like the idea, but maybe we'll find a way so you won't have to seriously hurt anyone."

"Like blocks and stuff?" Penny asked.

Mandarin nodded, causing Penny to smile a bit.

"Hmm I'll think about it." She said, smirking a bit.

Mandarin laughed before the door opened. Violet entered the room with a huge box.

"Mom, Gibson said you were depressed and couldn't get out of bed. So is it okay if I work on my anti gravity egg experiment in here?" She asked.

Mandarin nodded as he laid his head back down on the pillow.

"Just don't break anything." He said softly.

Violet nodded and went over to a coffee table to set her stuff up. Penny smiled widely and hopped off from Mandarin's grasp.

"I wanna watch!" She said, hopping off the bed and going over to her sister.

Mandarin closed his eyes and listened as Violet and Penny talked while the purple monkey set up her experiment. Mandarin then almost let out an audible groan as he began to get a craving for sour cream and fudge. Gross. He would normally get up to get the food himself but with him being so depressed today and having no energy, he couldn't.

Mandarin turned on his communicator and laid on his side.

"Hi Mandy." Otto chirped.

"Otto I really do apologize but I need something and it's disgusting." Mandarin sighed.

"No it's fine, I just got done working on the sticky bullets. What do you need?"

"Sour cream and fudge." Mandarin said before hearing a gagging noise behind him.

"That **is** gross!" Violet coughed as Penny giggled.

Otto laughed, hearing it almost made Mandarin smile.

"Okay I'll have to get fudge at the store but I'll be quick!" He said.

Mandarin sighed again, he was too good for him. Way too good.

"Thank you so much, again I apologize. I would get them myself but given the circumstances-"

"No no it's fine. Just focus on getting better and I'll be over there in a flash. I love you."

"I love you too." Mandarin said softly before shutting his communicator off.

Violet snickered as Penny set her tank on the floor.

"You two are so lovey it's actually kind of adorable." She said.

Mandarin looked back at her before looking down at his communicator.

That was true, even though he felt he didn't deserve someone like Otto. His focus soon became blurry as he became lost in his own thoughts.

* * *

After a while the door opened and Mandarin lifted his head, the noise snapping him out of his stupor. He expected to see Otto with his treats but instead Roland entered the room. He didn't even say anything as he crawled up onto the bed and onto Mandarin's side.

Mandarin blinked in confusion as Roland laid down.

"Erm good morning?" Mandarin greeted, though it sounded more like a question than anything.

"Mornin'." Roland grumbled.

Mandarin paused.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Laying down in here." Roland replied.

"Why?" Mandarin asked.

Roland looked down and grumbled.

"I was bored." He lied.

Violet noticed this and smirked. He was so full of it, she knew he wanted to be there for Mandarin too.

"Hi Rolly, you came to hang out too?" She teasingly asked.

Roland turned back and his eyes widened.

"Oh I didn't know you two were in here." He said.

Penny couldn't help but smirk too, knowing why he was here.

"We're staying with mommy too." She said, holding onto one of her stuffs spiders.

Roland blinked in surprise, so he wasn't alone in this?

"Oh really? I figured you guys would be…."

Violet motioned to her experiment.

"Well now we're doing them in here."

"Just wish there was a TV…that'd be cool too." Penny lamented, looking at a entertainment center with a radio on the top of it.

Roland snickered and nodded, that would be cool.

"I'm not interested in television." Mandarin muttered.

"Still." Penny huffed.

The door opened again as Angela entered holding Erin. Her eyes widened in surprise at seeing the others in here.

"I didn't know this was gonna turn into a party." She said as Erin babbled loudly.

Roland waved an arm.

"Bring the squish ball over here there's still plenty of room." He said before sliding off and crawling around to Mandarin's front.

He looked towards Mandarin.

"Is that ok?" He asked.

Mandarin nodded.

"Just don't be too loud." He muttered.

Angela nodded and set him on Roland's lap.

"Hold him for me while I get the carrier." She said before rushing out.

"Kay." Roland chirped before seeing Mandarin stroke Erin's head.

"Muh!" Erin babbled, waving his arms a bit.

Mandarin leaned down and kissed the top of his head before laying down.

Angela soon brought the carrier and placed Erin in, who pouted a bit. He was cheered up when Roland held out his hand for him to mess with.

"I'm so glad his one tooth isn't a fang." Roland sighed as Erin began to playfully bite on his hand.

"They'll grow in, you'll see." Angela said as she sat on the bed.

Mandarin raised his head, maybe finally he can talk to her.

"Angela." He said, getting her attention.

Angela perked up her head at him.

"Yeah?" She asked.

Mandarin scooted over to her a bit more.

"Are you feeling alright? I know lately you have mixed feeling about how you were born and why." He said, stroking her head with his finger.

Angela paused for a moment before snickering.

"What that? No I'm fine about that now, Violet and Maurice helped me understand. So don't worry about me." She assured him as Erin gnawed on his toy.

Why didn't that convince him? From the tone in her voice and how she paused earlier, it still could be bothering her. However he wasn't going to push on this now, she won't let him. Mandarin nodded slightly before patting her head.

"Well in case it still bothers you, you can always come to me." He said softly.

Angela's smile dropped a bit before nodding.

"I'll keep that in mind." She said, sounding a bit quieter than before.

Roland watched the two before Erin grabbed at his hand again.

"Bah!"

"Okay I'll play with you." Roland sighed, smiling.

Mandarin watched as Roland played with Erin with one of his toys before seeing Kuzon walk in with a sketchbook.

"Hi Kuzon." He greeted

"Hi mom." Kuzon greeted back before hopping up on the bed.

"I just woke up from my nap and noticed everyone was gone. Antauri said you guys were down here so here I am." He explained before turning to a blank page.

"Got lonely huh?" Violet asked teasingly.

Kuzon looked over to her and gave her a exasperated look. He then smirked.

"I couldn't find Maurice so yes. Where is he?" Kuzon asked, his smirk dropping.

"I think he went for a walk with Chiro." Penny replied, flying her spider toy around.

Mandarin kept his eyes closed as they talked, feeling a bit exhausted from so much happening. He felt one of them curl up with him and soon realized it was Angela.

"No Penny we do not have twin mind powers." Kuzon sighed.

"Aww but Sprx says that was a thing." Penny said.

"Sprx was kidding Pen." Violet giggled.

Penny's mouth dropped and she frowned.

"Well I didn't know that." She huffed, crossing her arms.

"Don't worry, we'll tell you whether we're kidding or not." Roland assured her as Erin drooled.

Violet snickered a bit more before continuing to work on her experiment.

Kuzon sat back down and kept drawing, drawing a large bird. It started to get a bit quiet, with Erin and Roland still playing and making a bit of noise. Not that Mandarin complained, this was nice. He heard the door open again and immediately knew who it was.

"Finally!" Kuzon huffed and went over to Maurice.

Maurice was taken back by his reaction.

"I was looking for you but you went on a walk without me!" His twin huffed.

"You were sleeping."

Kuzon playfully pouted.

"Still, remind me when you're gonna go for a walk."

Maurice rolled his eyes and patted his head.

"Okay fido I'll remember."

Kuzon smirked.

"Are you gonna give me treats too?" He asked.

"Shut up." Maurice scoffed and playfully pushed him.

"Hey no horseplay, or dog play or-whatever." Angela sighed.

Maurice laughed before looking over at Mandarin, who still had his eyes closed.

"Is he asleep?" He whispered.

Angela shook her head as Mandarin opened his eyes and lifted his head up.

"No I'm just resting my eyes." He answered, giving his son a small smile, even though his eyes indicated how emotionally exhausted he was .

Maurice then got worried. He went over to Mandarin and clamped his hands together before putting them near Mandarin's hands.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his face twisted with worry.

Penny perked her head up from watching Violet work.

"Mommy is having his sad day so we all came in here to stay with him." She explained.

Maurice felt a bit sick hearing that. He was depressed right now? No wonder he didn't seem him for most of the morning.

"I'm sorry if I had known earlier-"

Mandarin shook his head and placed a finger on Maurice's much smaller hands.

"No need to apologize, this just happens sometimes." He said.

Angela nodded and smiled.

"Yeah so don't worry about it. Just get up here ya big dork." She said, motioning him to come up.

Maurice looked at Kuzon before getting up on the bed and curling right up with Mandarin, who placed a large hand over him and Angela.

"I'm sorry you had to go through this by yourself for so long now." Maurice said softly as Kuzon hopped back up and continued his art.

Mandarin stroked his head.

"But I didn't. You know Otto was here to help too."

"But I wasn't here…I was...I was too busy being mad and-" Maurice continued before he was pulled in even more.

"Like I have said yesterday, I understood why you were upset and you didn't understand what happened. You don't have to feel guilty about this anymore, it's in the past anyway."

Maurice felt tears stinging his eyes and he wiped them, chuckling. Angela patted his shoulder.

"You're too nice." He commented.

Mandarin snickered.

"Well you are my children so I have a few exceptions."

"But not Sprx right?" Roland alleged.

"Only when he's acting like an idiot." Mandarin sighed, his eyes closed.

"He ain't dumb mommy!" Penny said, frowning.

"I know he's not, I said 'acting' not 'is'." Mandarin reminded her.

"Oh."

Maurice snickered before laying back.

"How are the twins?" Angela finally asked.

Mandarin groaned, remembering his cravings.

"They demand the most disgusting combination of food I swear to Veran." He grumbled.

Angela frowned a bit.

"Like what?"

"He's craving fudge and sour cream!" Violet cringed.

Nearly everyone, minus Roland and Erin, groaned.

"That does sound gross." Maurice gagged.

Roland frowned.

"Really? Cause I'd love to try that." He said.

Angela's eyes nearly popped out of her head as Mandarin gave him a perplexed look.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

Roland nodded.

"Yeah, Antauri did say I need to try more foods. And that sounds really gross so I wanna try it, it might be good." He chirped.

The only way they could get Roland to try new foods recently was if they mush it all together to make it sound gross to him. Kuzon stared at him before shaking his head.

"You're weird." He said before continuing to draw.

Roland shrugged before looking at Mandarin.

"So is Otto bringing it?" He asked with a smirk.

Mandarin nodded.

"He's like a super boyfriend." Angela commented, holding back giggles.

"Maybe when he gets here we can call him 'super boyfriend.'" Kuzon brought up.

"Yeah! That'll be funny!"

Mandarin rested his head back down as they continue to chatter, his mind going fuzzy again. He felt light kicks from the twins and Angela shifting a bit to get more comfortable.

After a while the door opened and Otto came in wheezing.

"Sorry the store was packed-!"

"Hi super boyfriend!" Some of the kids greeted before laughing.

Otto was taken back by them being here before smirking at Mandarin.

"Did you put them up to that? Mandarin?" He asked when Mandarin didn't respond.

Mandarin realized Otto was talking to him before looking up.

"Huh? Oh, no they came up with that themselves." He replied tiredly.

Otto went over to him and climbed up, bags in hand.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, stroking his head.

"A bit better than before." Mandarin said, a small smile on his face.

Otto looked around the room, a smile growing on his face.

"I bet! With all of these cuties around it'd be hard to be too sad. Especially when this ball of sunshine is around!" Otto said before picking up Erin.

Erin giggled before Otto held him up to Mandarin.

"Give mommy a kiss Erin!"

Erin frowned a bit before grabbing Mandarin's face and nuzzled it.

"Or a Eskimo kiss works too." Otto said as Mandarin kissed the top of his head.

Otto stopped smiling and leaned in a bit.

"Is it okay if they hang around with you? I just want to make sure you're comfortable." He whispered.

Mandarin nodded.

"It's perfectly fine, they're being very good. Besides I think this helps a lot." Mandarin muttered.

Otto looked at the other kids as some of them kept chatting about whatever. He smiled. Gibson did say that one of the ways of treating depression was support and love, seems to him Mandarin was getting a lot of treatment. Otto turned and kissed him.

"I gotta go, Chiro needs me to patrol with the frog team for a bit but I'll be back before four."

Mandarin nodded while some of the kids went, 'aww'.

"Super boyfriend is leaving." Roland said defeatedly, leaning foreward.

Otto snickered.

"Is that gonna be my new nickname?" He asked.

"It sure is super boyfriend." Angela said with a shit eating grin.

"Super boyfriend." Violet repeated.

Otto scoffed, putting Erin back in his carrier, and turned back to Mandarin.

"I'll be back." He said before kissing him again.

He then slid off the bed and left the room. Mandarin dug into the bag and pulls out the fudge and jar of sour cream. Roland scooted over to him as the two shared, no doubt getting looks of disgust from the others.

"This is good!" Roland said with delight.

"It's revolting but I want more." Mandarin sighed.

"Are you kidding this is great!"

Maurice smiled and laid back as the day continued like that, just them with their mom.

To him, it was a great way to spend a day off.

* * *

Naaawwww what sweet kids! Anyway thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

Hey guys, here's another short chapter...I mean compared to the other long ones. Please enjoy!

* * *

Violet one afternoon peeked in at Gibson as he was working on some plans with Otto.

"Hey what'cha guys doing?" She asked, pulling up a stool.

Gibson looked down at her and helped her sit up.

"We were looking for a way to help your older siblings with the brainwashing they've been through." He explained.

This caught Violet's interest as she sat up a bit more.

"Ooh can I help?" She asked with an eager smile.

Gibson and Otto looked at each other, with Otto scratching his head.

"Well…" Gibson began but Violet put up a hand.

"Gibson remember I was down at the labs for a while. So I know my way around there and where things are, that and I was pumped with some of the information so…" Her voice trailed off as she tapped the hop of her head.

Gibson and Otto looked at each other one more time. Otto shrugged and gave a small smile.

"It might help." He said.

Gibson thought on it. They did acquire some information on the brainwashing system from Gibson's hacking, but it was only a few pieces of information like what was place in their heads and how some of the monkey's personalities was forcibly changed. That was sickening in it of itself.

Gibson closed his eyes and sighed before looking at her.

"Okay what do you know?" He asked.

Violet sat back a bit and placed a hand on her chin, thinking really hard.

"Hmm I know when I was being pumped with information they had a helmet over my head, but I think for the brainwashing they did something else. Because the robotization comes before the brainwashing or at least that's how they did it before me…I think they put in a thingy that would fit in the back of your head." She said, pointing at Otto's helmet.

Otto uncomfortably felt the back of his head as Gibson quickly wrote down the information.

"That is very helpful information Violet, do you know anything else?" Gibson asked, the corners of his mouth twitching in satisfaction.

Violet thought hard, crossing her arms and leaning forward. After a while she let out a groan.

"Sorry that's all I know, but I think what I know works enough." She said before hopping off the stool.

Gibson finished writing and pulled Violet into a brief hug.

"It does, thank you so much." Gibson said before letting go, as Violet went deeper into the lab.

"No prob! Now to work on my latest food creation!" Violet declared with a fist raised in the air.

Gibson nearly gagged at the thought of what she will make as Otto snickered.

"So now that we know how they were brainwashed, let's find out how to destroy it." Gibson finally said after getting whatever disgusting food creation came to his mind.

Otto nodded and began to go over to the computers. He sat down and cracked his knuckles.

"Yeah let's find out how to reverse the process. Now maybe if I hack into their computers-" Otto began before Gibson put up a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait! That's it! We reverse the process! If we just empty out their loyalty to Skeleton king, they'll come to on their own!" He said, realization taking over.

Otto smiled, and put his fists up in determination..

"Yeah! I still need to get the information on the machines but other than that I think we're set."

Gibson placed his hands on his face and slowly dropped them.

"Oh it will be so difficult to catch them but it will be worth it." He groaned as Otto got up.

"Yep, now if you'll excuse me." He sung before rushing out of the room.

Gibson turned to him, eyes wide.

"Otto get back here we need to work on completing the guns!"

"I finished them last night!" Otto called back.

Gibson frowned before sitting down and rubbing his temples.

"Romance." He grumbled.

* * *

Otto peered into their room in case Mandarin was there, but saw as the bed was empty. He blinked before knocking on the bathroom door. No reply. He looked around until he saw Mandarin peering into the unfinished but now fully painted nursery.

"Hmm straight down the middle- no that's too cliché. Perhaps from that top corner to that other one like the paint." He muttered, pointing from the right top of the ceiling to the left corner on the other side of the room.

Otto smiled and hugged his legs.

"Hey cutie butt." He greeted.

Mandarin quickly looked down at him, his muscles tensing for a moment before settling.

"Oh, afternoon Otto." He said before picking him up.

Otto looked into the room then back at him.

"We already painted the room Mandy."

"I know, I was thinking of something else." Mandarin said.

Otto rested his head against Mandarin's chest, still looking up at him.

"Like what? Streamers?" He asked.

Mandarin flicked his hand a bit.

"Sort of like that. At least something hanging from one corner to the other side of the room." He explained.

Mandarin looked back into the room again.

"Besides I know for a fact we still need to get the rest of the items and fast. I'm already coming upon my seventh month." He said, placing a hand over his swollen stomach.

Otto tilted his head and thought.

"Hmm then maybe we should go and get some baby stuff."

"Right now?" Mandarin asked, wanting clarification.

"Yeah I just got done working with Gibson, we can go today if you want to." Otto said, patting his chest.

Mandarin began to think on it, he does want to buy at least some of the baby stuff. He's still a bit afraid of being outside but it has gotten better.

At that moment Kuzon came around the corner, yawning.

"These nap restrictions are dumb, I can sleep at night just fine." He sighed.

He then looked at the others and stopped walking.

"Oh sorry I didn't even notice anyone was around." He said.

Otto shook his head and hopped down.

"Nah you're fine. So Antauri's restricting your naps?"

"Only one nap a day! That's silly! I take two naps and I still get to sleep by my normal bedtime." He ranted, crossing his arms.

Otto held back a laugh and patted his shoulder.

"Maybe he's saying you should be awake so you could do more stuff."

Kuzon pursed his lips and ducked his head.

"I guess that's true, I still think it's silly." He admitted as Mandarin went over to him.

Mandarin then unexpectedly picked Kuzon up and held him close.

"Wha-?!" Kuzon exclaimed as Mandarin rested his head on his.

"Am I not allowed to hug my child?" Mandarin questioned.

Kuzon shook his head.

"No it's not that, I just got surprised." He said.

Otto giggled, covering his mouth at the sight.

"He's in a very cuddly and pick up-y mood. He just picked me up when I went up to him." He explained as Mandarin nuzzled Kuzon's head.

Kuzon snickered and nodded. It was nice of him and that he was in a good mood, it's better than him being so depressed that he can barely get out of bed.

"So what are you guys up to?" Kuzon asked.

"We're about to go to the baby store to get some things for the nursery. You want to tag along?" Otto asked.

Kuzon nodded, he was rather bored recently. So doing something...anything outside sounded fun.

"Yeah sounds fun…wait….I got so many ideas!" He gasped, hopping down and running into the nursery.

Otto and Mandarin followed him as Kuzon excitedly looked around the room.

"We should get circle cribs and place them on each side of the room, and have the dressers side by side in the back. We sho-oh my goodness we should have a giant mobile of a giant cloud and lightning and rain thingies on the ceiling and a screen that looks like a window to the city behind the dressers!" Kuzon babbled, bouncing all over the room.

Mandarin snickered at how excited he was while Otto made mental notes in his head.

"Anything else mr. Interior designer?" Otto asked.

Kuzon turned to him, face lit up with joy and inspiration.

"Yeah, since if we're gonna do a storm theme we should have a recliner chair that looks like a cloud." He said.

Otto shrugged.

"I don't know if that exists Kuzy, but if it does then sure."

"Maybe we can make it!" Kuzon squealed, no doubt having a blast with the possibility of making such a thing.

Otto motioned to Mandarin.

"Just remember that any final decision is on him. They are his babies." He reminded him.

Kuzon walked up to Mandarin, curious as to what he thinks.

It took a bit before Mandarin gave his answer.

"Well I'm not sure I will go with that theme specifically as nice as it sounds."

Kuzon, feeling a bit disappointed, nodded anyway. That's fair.

"However I do like the idea of having a screen acting like a window and showing various views of the city." Mandarin pointed out, getting Kuzon to smile.

"Yeah and maybe other places, like a beach or something!" He added.

"Or a mountain scape would be nice…wait could it be possible to have lullabies on them?" Mandarin asked.

Kuzon frowned a bit in confusion.

"Why? Can't you sing them?"

Mandarin gave his son a long stare with his lips pursed.

"I have a terrible singing voice,dear." He finally answered.

"Oh. That's ok, me too. I love music but I can't sing to save my life." Kuzon said, laughing a bit at the end.

Otto looked up at Mandarin.

"I can make the screen, though it could take a bit depending on my schedule."

Mandarin nodded, that's true. Kuzon looked back into the room and put his hand on his hip.

"Well what else do you want to do for here? I can probably give you an idea or two." He said.

Mandarin looked at the ceiling.

"Well for one thing I do want things like streamers or something like that hanging across the room. Maybe not streamers but…ergh I'm not sure what to put up." He said, getting a tad frustrated.

Kuzon and Otto looked up at the ceiling too, thinking of ideas.

"Maybe a net? We could put stuff in it." Otto suggested.

"No that's not really what I'm looking for."

Kuzon walked from one side of the room to the other.

"Hmm maybe those little lights? You know that people put out for Gift day?" He suggested.

"Lights? Won't they just be on all the time?" Mandarin asked, frowning in confusion.

Otto looked up at him and pointed towards the light switch.

"Not if we make it so they can turn off too. I think that would be very cool." He said smiling.

Mandarin thought on it a bit more, his hand on his chin. He then looked at Kuzon.

"Could we get them in different colors?" He asked.

"Sure can!" Kuzon chirped.

Mandarin's eyes lit up at the possibilities.

"Can we get them in a rainbow stream? I would love to have that contrast to the black and white walls."

Kuzon snapped his fingers.

"Now you're speaking my language! Anything else?"

Mandarin sighed and rubbed his head with his finger.

"That's about all my brain can think up of right now. The store could bring me some ideas." He said.

Otto nodded and patted his leg.

"Sounds good, now it probably will be a bit busy at this time but we can still…."

All sound left Mandarin's ears. Monkey doodle, he completely forgot about people being there. Why wouldn't they? It is a public store after all. Still the thought of so many people staring at him and judging him for being pregnant was rather overwhelming.

"Mandarin? Mandarin?" Otto tapped Mandarin's leg, causing him to snap out of his thoughts.

"Y-yes?"

Otto noticed his uncomfortable tone and stroked his hand.

"Hey if you want we can go as the store opens tomorrow morning, that way there won't be as many people." He said.

Mandarin shook his head and put up a hand.

"Oh no I don't want to cause any trouble-"

Otto grabbed his other hand.

"No it's no trouble at all. I don't have the night shift tonight so I can get up super early." Otto assured him.

Mandarin thought before sighing.

"I guess that can work, but what about the lights?" He asked

"I can put them together! I will make the cribs too."

"Otto you don't have to-"

Otto climbed up on Mandarin and held his face.

"It's too late I'm already planning on making them and yes they will be circle cribs." He said to Kuzon.

"Yes!" Kuzon cheered, jumping up in the air.

Mandarin looked down at him as soon as he calmed down.

"Do you still wish to go? It's going to be early." He reminded him.

Kuzon shrugged and smiled.

"I have to get up early on other days for lessons, it's fine." He said.

Otto patted Mandarin's face.

"It's gonna be fine, now let's go find the squish ball!" He said before hopping down.

Mandarin sighed as Kuzon followed him.

"Is that his new nickname?" Mandarin questioned.

"Oh honey we've been calling him that for months."

* * *

Kuzon yawned as Mandarin carried him out of the robot the next morning.

"I'm so sleepy." He mumbled, resting against Mandarin's chest.

"I thought you got enough sleep." Mandarin teased as Otto trailed in front of them.

"I did, I'm still waking up." Kuzon muttered, rubbing his eye.

Mandarin snickered and noticed one of the restaurants they passed by.

"Hmm maybe after we're done shopping we can get some breakfast. Is there anywhere you would like to go to?" He asked.

"Breakfast?" Kuzon questioned before thinking.

"Mm there's that one restaurant on Shuggazoom lane not too far from the store I like going to. They have a outdoor patio and they serve really yummy omelets." Kuzon said before yawning again.

Otto looked back at them, eyes wide at the thought of what Kuzon was talking about.

"Triko's Cove? That place is so good!" He squealed.

"It is! Can we go there?" Kuzon asked.

"I don't see why we couldn't, what do you think Mandy? Mandy?" Otto asked, noticing Mandarin;s movements.

Mandarin's pace slowed a bit as he looked in one of the more shady areas of the streets, not yet lit by the rising sun. He swore he almost saw a glimmer of metal but then again it could be the trash cans. But…were trash cans also painted pink nowadays? He looked back at Otto.

"Huh? Oh of course, the patio sounds better than being inside."

"Yeah I know you don't like crowds." Kuzon said, ignoring why he looked so concerned.

Otto blinked and looked at the shady area Mandarin was staring at. Just two trash cans with some pink dirty sheets on them.

* * *

Huh...wonder why that made Mandarin nervous? I mean they're just trash cans. Thanks for reading.


	17. Chapter 17

Hey welcome back! Last week mentally wasn't so hot for me but I will still update the best I can. Please enjoy!

* * *

"Fancy seeing you here!" Said a broad woman with dark curly hair.

She had a small child clinging at her leg, who curiously looked at Mandarin.

Otto went up to them while Mandarin hung in the back with Kuzon, who was showing him the huge amount of strollers.

"Yeah we just came to pick up some stuff." He said.

The woman nodded and looked over at Mandarin. She leaned down to Otto with a wrinkled brow. She cleared her throat.

"How is he?" She asked.

Otto was taken back by her question before he looked back at the two.

"And this one has a mini snack compartment!" Kuzon said, opening a little compartment in one of the strollers.

"Huh, that would be really helpful." Mandarin said quietly.

"He's…doing alright. Why?" Otto asked.

The woman paused a bit before leading her daughter towards the cash register area.

"A lot of the people in the bunkers have been hearing some rumors that the original Mandarin was back and…a lot more of them heard what happened. Also him being at the food fest a week back kind of confirmed those rumors." She said, rubbing her arm.

That didn't surprise Otto, when they told the allies about him it was sure to spread around. The woman clasped her hands and set them on her chest.

"I mean, don't get me wrong a lot of us are still very much afraid of him. Still we are very sorry for what happened." She admitted.

Otto nodded, smiling a bit.

"Yeah…but he's been doing a lot better. A few months ago he would refuse to go outside and now here he is looking for baby stuff." He said before letting out a small laugh.

The woman sighed before shaking her head.

"Man I can't handle this negative aura in my store. So what's he having?" She asked as she felt her daughter walk up to her again with one of her toys.

"Twins, boy and girl." Otto chirped.

The woman clapped her hands a bit as her daughter looked over at the two. She looked at the bag of discounts before putting some in her pockets.

"That's so exciting! Does he have any names for them yet?" She giddily asked.

"No, but he keeps looking at 'M' names. Gibson keeps thinking he's gonna name his son Mandarin jr."

The woman laughed as her daughter, overcome by too much curiosity, brushed past her and rushed over to Mandarin and Kuzon. The woman noticed this and her eyes widened.

"Torah! Torah get back here!" She called after her.

Torah walked right up to the two as they looked at a double seated stroller.

"This one also has a snack compartment and you can put tiny toys on here." Kuzon pointed out, opening a lid to a small compartment.

"Kuzon you are a very convincing salesman. You should put that skill in your career." Mandarin complemented, patting his head..

"In art?" Kuzon asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yes you can convince people to buy your paintings." Mandarin suggested.

Torah pulled some coupons out of her overalls pocket.

"'Scuse me!" She yelled, thinking he wouldn't hear her from all the way down here.

Mandarin nearly jumped in surprise before looking down at her. Torah held up the coupons.

"Would ya like a dismount?" She asked.

Kuzon snickered but nodded.

"Sure thing." He said taking the coupons, having her face light up.

"Look mom, coupons on baby food." He chirped.

"Oh nice." Mandarin said softly as Torah patted his hand.

"Your hands are big!" She exclaimed.

Mandarin blinked, his muscles tensed up in worry as Kuzon laughed.

"Everything about him is big…except for his head…which is kinda scary." He said, looking up at him.

Mandarin sighed and dipped his small head.

"Yeah…"

Torah patted his hand again, now smiling.

"You can hold a lot of toys in 'em. Or people." She said as her mom came up to them.

"I probably could." Mandarin said.

Torah was then picked up by the woman.

"Torah what did I say about running off to strangers?" She huffed.

"To not to unless they're customers? That's what you tell you 'ployees"

The woman sighed as she looked at Mandarin. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and hesitated before speaking.

"So um is there anything I can help you with today?" She asked.

Mandarin's anxiety shot up as he tried to find the courage to speak.

"Erm n-not right now." He said, not looking her in the eye.

The woman nodded and motioned the cash register.

"Well I'll be right over there if you need anything. C'mon kiddo let's get your snack ready." She said as they walked off.

Torah waved.

"Bye hand man!"

Kuzon fell the floor laughing as Otto went up to them.

"Hand man! That's great!"

Mandarin snickered as Otto climbed up on him. That was pretty cute, and it kind of showed that some of the citizens were finally warming up to him. He patted his head.

"So, let's look around. Is there anything you see that you like so far?" Otto asked.

Mandarin pointed towards the stroller.

"I want that."

* * *

They finished their shopping for the day as Mandarin placed a lot of the things they bought into his chest storage. However, after they left Mandarin kept looking around. He swore he could feel someone's eyes watching them but he shook it off whenever Kuzon starts talking to him. That and he started worrying about the children Skeleton king currently kept at the fortress. Were they okay? Were they eating well? Was Skeleton king making them into undead soldiers? He shivered at the thought. The weather started getting cloudy and dark, much like his thoughts.

"I can't wait to have the bacon cheese omelet again." Kuzon sighed.

Otto placed his hands on his chest.

"The meat lovers omelet is what I'm dying to have. It's so good!" He sighed before noticing Mandarin looking off.

He was unfocused and looked like something was making him uncomfortable. Otto and Kuzon stopped walking.

"Mandarin? Are you okay?" Otto asked.

Mandarin stopped walking and sighed.

"I'm sorry, I'm really trying hard to enjoy myself, but I can't stop thinking about the other children and what Skeleton king could be doing to them." He worriedly said, gripping his hands.

Otto's face drooped.

"I know, we'll get them back." He said.

Kuzon patted his mother's hand.

"Yeah we'll unbrainwash them and they'll be back to their normal selves." He confidently said.

Mandarin placed his hands over his face.

"Maybe that will work but…what if they want to stay with him? What if they…what if they end up like me?" He questioned, dropping his hands.

"What?" Kuzon asked, completely confused.

Mandarin looked over at him.

"He has the power to change their bodies and keep them at his side. It's not like it did not happen to me. His influence kept me bound to him for so long…it made me a slave."

Otto quickly shook his head.

"Mandarin you were forced to be with him. You wanted him to teach you and he made you his slave! That's what happened." Otto said.

Mandarin turned to Otto, distraught.

"I could still have broken away. I could have overcome his influence and stopped this! I could have stopped him! Go on, tell me I'm wrong!"

"Mandarin you couldn't have known-!"

A large thump came below the streets, near the middle of the road. The manhole cover shot up and fell to the side of the road. The three froze as a metal monkey hand grabbed the edge and hoisted itself up, revealing to be a pink monkey with black cold eyes.

"Finally!" She exclaimed, grinning.

"Artemis!" Otto and Mandarin exclaimed.

She stood in front of the group menacingly. It wasn't just her evil smile or her posture, but her entire aura was frightening.

"I thought I would never find you." Artemis said, crossing her arms.

"You've been looking for us?" Mandarin questioned, his heart rate racing.

"I've been looking for **you**." Artemis stated before beginning to walk towards them.

Mandarin flinched as Kuzon got behind him. Otto pulled out his saw and held it out in front of him.

"Stay back!" He said sternly.

Artemis stopped walking and laughed.

"Really you're going to point that at me? Me of all people?" She giggled.

Otto frowned at her as Kuzon peeked out. Artemis noticed Kuzon before looking back at Otto and Mandarin.

"He's the one you should be afraid of." Artemis said, looking right at Mandarin.

Mandarin flinched back up and frowned.

"That's not true." He denied.

Artemis scoffed.

"You can't lie to me. I've heard what you're capable of, and I thought Jubilee was a brute. But you?" She edged closer.

"You're a monster."

Just her saying that sent chills up Mandarin's spine. He wanted to deny it, he wanted to deny what she just said.

Otto looked back at him in worry before glaring at Artemis.

"Mandarin doesn't want anything to do with Skeleton king!" He told her.

Kuzon wanted to talk her down, try to get her to join them. He didn't want anyone to get into a fight but Artemis's aura was so intimidating.

"This is a family matter. So stay," Artemis's hand turned into a large pink hammer as she glared.

"out of the way!" she then smacked Otto away.

Otto grimaced at how hard she hit him, clutching his stomach. Before Mandarin and Kuzon could react, Artemis grabbed his hand and unexpectedly got to her knees. She looked up at him with begging eyes.

"Please rejoin Skeleton king!" She begged.

Thunder rumbled as a flash of lightning flew across the sky as Mandarin looked down at her with wide eyes.

"Does...does he want me back?" He asked.

Artemis shook her head and clenched her grasp even tighter.

"No I want you back. He was wrong about how weak you are and how being in the labs was your punishment. I've heard so much about you! You are bigger and stronger than all of us! You can crush cement like paper!"

Kuzon watched in terror as his sister was in giddy delight while his mother was frozen stiff. He felt himself shake.

"I have heard of how the Supreme Destructor nearly finished the chosen one, how you've conquered small weak planets in his name, how you decapitated that pink haired brat with your incredible robot! You're incredible!" Artemis gushed.

Otto picked himself up a bit in pain as he watched the scene unfold. Mandarin's expression was full of horror and...guilt? He did seem to look away from her and bit his lip. He then saw Artemis talk to him about his incredible strength.

"Mandarin don't listen to her!"

Mandarin shot his head up and gave him a reassuring nod. He knew what Artemis was trying to do, but he won't fall for it. Artemis stood up and turned to the fallen monkey.

"Stay out of this!" She snarled.

Mandarin had to talk some sense into her. He had to break his daughter free from Skeleton King's grasp.

"When he remade me into this, it wasn't just the physical changes." Mandarin began, causing Artemis to turn around towards him.

"Skeleton King also brainwashed me to follow him without question. I liked having my world revolve around him and fight for him. Everything became about serving him, it was not about what I wanted anymore. I needed to, I kept thinking I would die if I didn't follow his every command. I had no freedom, it was terrible!" He went on, his anxiety and past feelings clouding up.

He held his arm as he remembered being dragged to the labs by Skeleton King, with Mandarin asking where was he taking him and begging for forgiveness . Forgiveness he knew he would never get, especially from the person who took his freedom and will away from. Mandarin closed his eyes as he purged that memory, he was not going to break down right now. Artemis held up her hands to him.

"It won't be like before, I will convince Skeleton King to not take you back to the labs or do all of that stuff to you. I'm very good at convincing people, convincing him will be a walk in the park!" Artemis assured him as she began to walk up to Mandarin.

Mandarin felt himself back up, the familiar fear of his own children creeping up. Only this time, he had a good reason to be afraid. Kuzon backed up too, just as afraid. Artemis smiled to show that she means to harm to her mother.

"I can convince him to have you lead us as we destroy this overrated garbage heap. We can finally destroy the Hyperforce and that chosen one you wanted to all those years ago! We can finally win this war!" She said, turning her open hands into fists.

Mandarin and Kuzon kept backing up until Kuzon realized they were about to go into a wall and side stepped out of the way. Mandarin's back touched a wall.

"And Skeleton King will trust you again! We can be a family like I know you want! Together we'd be unstoppable!" She exclaimed.

Mandarin stared down at her before looking at Otto, the green monkey's eyes begging him not to agree to this. Mandarin then looked down at Kuzon, who could only shake and cling to him, before looking back at Artemis. He clenched his fists, he needed to do this.

"No." Mandarin answered.

"What?" Artemis asked, her expression changing.

It wasn't an expression of anger or contempt, it wasn't even an expression of shock. It was an expression of disappointment. Her shoulders drooped and she looked at Mandarin with sad eyes.

"Being Skeleton King's slave and that whole experience wasn't good for anyone, including me. I never want to feel like I did when I was on his side, never again, and I don't want that for you either Artemis. So please just stay here and we can get the others to help you." Mandarin said to Artemis as she backed up.

"B-but I don't need any help! I'm fine!" She denied, looking around.

"Is that what you think? Or is that what Skeleton King told you?" Kuzon asked, finally stepping up.

Artemis glared a bit before looking up at Mandarin.

"Really think about it Artemis, did you choose to follow Skeleton King? Do you really want to hurt innocent humans who did nothing to you? Did you even get to have a say whether you would have a childhood or not, do you even have a choice to do anything outside of what Skeleton King wants?" Mandarin questioned, crossing his arms.

Artemis's throat felt dry. Her thoughts began to conflict with each other.

"B-but it's my purpose to serve him, that's why I was born! I was made for him!" She argued.

Oh how did Artemis remind Mandarin of another child who's having these same thoughts. He shook his head as Otto slowly got up.

"No it isn't Artemis. Just because bone bag wanted to have you be a soldier doesn't mean that's your ultimate purpose. It can be whatever you want." Kuzon said.

Artemis turned to him, not liking where this conversation was going. She turned back to Mandarin, ready to attempt to convince him one more time before the team gets here.

"But Mother-!"

"He said no, sweetie just let us help you." Otto urged, his previous pain subsiding.

Artemis looked at him and rage filled her entire being. No wonder Mandarin wasn't agreeing to her, the Hyperforce has corrupted him!

"This is your fault. Rrgh I'll crush you!" She growled before darting at him, her hands turned into hammers.

Thinking fast, Mandarin used his energy tail and grabbed Artemis's leg and she tripped. He began to reel her in before Artemis flicked her tail.

"I'm sorry." She apologized before harshly smacking it, harsh enough to have him let go.

She quickly activated her jetpack and flew up. Artemis smacked away Otto's chains on his saws, trying to wrap around her. When she was high enough Artemis began to fly away. She took one last look at Mandarin before flying back to the castle, pain clear on her face.

Mandarin watched her go, feeling a bit upset that he couldn't convince her to stay so they could help. He felt Otto cling to him as Kuzon walked up next to him.

"Don't worry mom, we'll get her back." Kuzon assured him, patting his arm.

"I know." Mandarin said, still watching her fly away.

He sighed and then looked down at the two worried monkeys.

"Okay, breakfast?"

* * *

"You mean you found the subject but you didn't bring him to the labs?!" A lemon yellow robot monkey with blue eyes asked.

Artemis flinched as the two were sitting in one of the many halls in the Skeleton King castle.

"I had my reasons. I don't need to explain them to you." She huffed, frowning.

The yellow monkey worriedly looked around.

"But what if lord Skeleton King finds out you didn't bring him there? He'll be so mad!" She said, biting her 'nails'.

Artemis flinched again but sighed.

"It'll be fine Jubilee. I'll just try to convince him that I was going to make him rejoin us and lead us to victory." She said as another robot monkey with red fur and purple eyes walked up to her.

"Why would you do that? Wasn't the subject a total failure and his purpose was now to give birth to the Skeleton King army?" She questioned.

Artemis laid her head back and sighed.

"That's not how I see him. He has so much amazing power and was an amazing leader. I would have loved if we had something like that with us. To fight along side with the one who carried us, someone with so much power, that would be such an amazing experience." Artemis breathed.

"That is why I am working on an important project, dear Artemis." A chilling voice said.

A huge shadow loomed over the three. The three monkeys whipped their heads up and bowed before Skeleton King, who had the Mandarin clone on his shoulder.

"Forgive me! I-!" Artemis was about to say but Skeleton King held up a hand.

"No need to ask for my forgiveness child. Your desires were on the right track, but they are placed in the wrong person." He said as Skelemandarin eyed the side of the room.

But that wasn't how Artemis saw it. For some reason that's just how she felt about Mandarin. Her other siblings don't even refer to him as their mother, just 'subject'. It felt too cold to her, too sterile. For reasons even she wasn't sure of. The pink monkey looked down a bit as Skeleton King turned to Jubilee.

"Where is your brother?" He asked.

Jubilee's posture quickly straightened up.

"You mean Reid, my lord? He's-"

"Not him. Your other brother, the other triplet." Skelemandarin scoffed.

Jubilee blinked and scratched her head.

"Him? Oh I think he's patrolling the higher parts of the castle." She answered.

Skeleton King flicked his wrist.

"Bring him to me, I need his assistance for this project. His contribution will be most important." He said.

Jubilee was indeed very confused. The guy didn't even have a name and was to be honest, kind of a dork. What made him so special? Rather than question Skeleton King's request, she turned and began to run down the hall.

"Yes my lord!" She yelled.

As she turned a corner and was out of sight, Skeleton King kept staring down the hall.

"Artemis, Jerica, there also may be a new soldier joining us." He suddenly announced.

The two, including Skelemandarin, looked at him in surprise.

"How so my lord?" Jerica asked.

Skeleton King grinned evilly.

"I have sensed confusion and many insecurities into one of the children still with the boy and the filthy primates. We don't need to get her now, we need to let those insecurities grow like a small but deadly plant. That soul just needs enough prodding and convincing to break and realize that she belongs with us." He explained in an chilling voice.

Jerica smiled a bit and nodded.

"I look forward to having her with us. Just like it should be."

Artemis nodded and looked down.

"Yeah, like it should be." She muttered.

* * *

Aww Artemis! Anyway what is this project that Skeleton King is talking about? Hmmm who knows? Thanks for reading!


	18. Chapter 18

Hey! Who wants a chapter all focused on the kids? Well here ya go! Enjoy!

* * *

It was at least three weeks since that incident and ever since then, security around the city tightened in case Artemis tried to come back to convince Mandarin to rejoin Skeleton King. However she hasn't shown up since then. They did notice a huge rise of machine parts going missing in cars and other things. Yet they can't find their culprits. Mandarin was now well into his seventh month and the team helped him get the nursery together.

One morning the team was about ready to embark on...somewhere. Mandarin wasn't certain of the details but all he knew was that the children will be by themselves and the security will be up and ready to go. No one could get in or get out without a proper device that Otto had.

"Are you sure I cannot stay here? I wouldn't mind." Mandarin said to Chiro.

Chiro nodded and motioned towards the transport tube in the middle of the room.

"Yeah we need you to come with us for a bit. Don't worry they'll be fine." He assured the worried mother.

Sprx crossed his arms and frowned a bit.

"For once I have to agree with Mandarin, kid. Don't you remember the last time Angela was placed in charge of one of her siblings?" He reminded Chiro.

Chiro looked over at Angela, who was sitting next to a gaming Roland.

"I think she can be trusted again. She has gotten less insecure since the whole lab thing." He said.

Mandarin also looked over at her. He agreed with him on that, at seemingly, but would they really be safe by themselves? He felt Otto crawl on him and nuzzle his cheek.

"Angela! Remember you're in charge!" Nova called to her, holding Erin in his carrier as the others arrived.

" 'Kay!" Angela replied, not looking back at them.

"Where are we even going?" Mandarin asked.

"Somewhere, don't worry." Jinmay said, grabbing her purse.

Mandarin tensed up at that and shook.

"If it's a baby shower I swear-!"

"Mandarin it's not a baby shower we promise. We would invite the children if that were the case." Antauri assured him.

Otto patted his face and leaned forward so only Mandarin could hear.

"Don't worry, I told them how uncomfortable you are with having one. We're going to the bunkers to talk with the allies." He whispered.

Mandarin raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Why do I need to come then?" He asked.

Otto was silent for a second before answering, "This sort of concerns you too, the labs and the kids."

Mandarin tensed up even more at hearing that but sighed shakily.

"I guess...I guess that's fine. However are you sure my children will be safe?" Mandarin asked.

Otto patted his head.

"Don't worry they'll be fine. We left then home alone before once or twice and they're usually fine. We did walk into an argument once before."

Mandarin worriedly looked over at them as they were just doing their usual tasks. He then felt himself being dragged towards the transport tube.

"W-wait let me walk on my own!"

"You were just gonna stand there!" Chiro huffed.

Penny looked up from her coloring and waved.

"Have fun!" She called out as they left.

Angela patted her lap and stood up.

"I'm gonna get something to drink, does anyone want anything?" She asked.

"I want orange juice please." Penny chirped.

"Star breath soda!" Roland piped up.

"Roland you know you aren't supposed to have any soda before dinner." Angela reminded him.

Roland shrugged and smiled.

"Eh I tried." He said, eyes still on his game.

Angela turned to Maurice, who was reading one of Antauri's scrolls.

"What about you?" She asked.

Maurice put up a hand.

"I'm good. You better get Violet some water, who knows how long she's gonna be in the lab." He said.

Angela sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Yeah that's true. Let me know when Kuzon is done painting." She said before entering the kitchen.

* * *

Violet messed with a few of the wires a bit more before sitting back. Well, the new potato battery experiment was a success, that is she put one huge artificially grown potato and hooked it up to a car battery. Her next move was to power several potatoes and have them work with other things, like phone chargers and tvs. She will be using her own TV as a test subject. However that is for another day, as she stared at her creation before falling onto her back out of exhaustion. She closed her eyes and listened to the whir of the machines before she heard footsteps behind her.

"Uh oh! It looks like Violet is passed out, I better pour water on her-"

Violet shot up as Angela laughed, holding a glass of water.

"I'm up!" She yelped, getting up.

Angela snickered and handed her the cold glass.

"I'm just kidding Vi." She said.

Violet frowned and took the glass before taking a small sip, which turned into a huge swig. Angela looked over at the experiment and shook her head.

"Why do you always gotta work on weird stuff?" She asked.

"Why not is the proper question!" Violet snorted before continuing to guzzle down the drink.

Angela shook her head and began to leave when Violet asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

She turned to the purple monkey, who looked at her sister in concern. Angela blinked before nodding.

"Yeah of course." She said, a bit too quickly.

Violet tilted her head and frowned.

"You sure? Because if it's about that 'purpose as a soldier' thing you can still talk to us about it. I'm sure mom would-" She tried to say but Angela put up her hand.

"No, I don't want to put mom under more stress than he's going through right now." She said, no longer even denying what Violet asked earlier.

Violet shrugged.

"That didn't stop Maurice and him working things out. He really wants to talk about this Ange. He knows you're still thinking about it." She said softly.

Angela tensed up, knowing she was right. Yet at the same time she doesn't want to burden him with this sort of stuff.

"I...I don't know. I'll think about it." She muttered before leaving.

"Remember to clean up!" She called back.

"Okay!" Violet yelled before beginning to put her tools away.

 _"Hopefully they'll talk about it soon, I have a bad feeling something will happen if they don't."_ She thought as she put her wrench in the tool box.

* * *

Kuzon yawned and stretched. Done and done! He set the painting he was working on up to dry before cleaning up. Now he's off to take his one required nap for the day. He began to head back to his room when he felt someone pull his arm into a room, causing his heart to beat like crazy and his stomach lurched. Kuzon's nerve settled when he saw Roland.

"Roland don't do that!" Kuzon wheezed.

Roland clung to him and looked at Kuzon with big pleading eyes, clearly wanting something.

"Sorry, but I got no one to play video games with! Angela is too busy with watching us, Violet is sleeping because of her experiment, Penny doesn't like the video games I play, and Maurice just flat out hates them! So pleeaaaaaase play with me!" He whined, leaning on him.

Kuzon rolled his eyes and patted his head.

"Fine I guess for a bit. What do you want to play?" He asked, receiving a cheeky grin from Roland.

Kuzon watched Roland's eyes lit up as he shifted the joy stick, held down a button, and release. The character on the screen swung back and hit a golf ball all the way to the other side of the area across the river.

"Golfing?" Kuzon questioned.

"Yeah, it's actually kinda fun." Roland said.

Kuzon raised an eyebrow before Roland popped up the main menu.

"You and me, competitive mode." Roland motioned the screen with a sneaky smirk.

Kuzon quickly stood up.

"What?! No!" He exclaimed, not wanting to play such a boring game.

Roland glared at him and pointed.

"You said you would play with me! Don't take it back now!" He huffed.

"But I hate golf!" Kuzon told him.

"So? Have you even tried it?" Roland asked, getting up and crossing his arms.

Kuzon opened his mouth to speak but then thought.

"Well...no. But I have watched it and it looks boring." He said.

Roland rolled his eyes.

"You aren't gonna be watching it, you're gonna be playing it. Well, on a video game at least." He said, holding up the controller.

Kuzon eyed the side, still thinking about it.

"I don't know..."

Roland quickly turned and sat down.

"All right, if you don't want too that's okay. I mean I don't want you to get all weepy if I win."

Kuzon quickly looked down at him. What was that now?

"What do you mean by that?" He asked.

Roland looked up him with his lips pursed.

"Hmm? Oh nothing. I just meant that since I have more experience in this game that means I can probably beat anyone. Even my older brother." He said before smirking.

Kuzon was taken back by this and put up his hands.

"Woah now don't go thinking that! I'm sure I or someone else can beat you at this game without even playing the darn thing." He said.

Roland wiggled the second controller.

"Wanna prove it?" He asked.

Kuzon froze before glaring and taking the remote for him.

"Fine! I'll show you!"

Score one for Roland.

* * *

Violet groaned as she tried to sleep but found no use. She decided to stay in bed anyway just so she can rest up a bit. That is until she heard the door open and a small figure jump right onto the bed..and onto her stomach.

"Ow!" Violet exclaimed and looked up to see Penny crawl up on her.

"Violet I'm hungry." She said.

Violet blinked and frowned.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?" Penny asked, tilting her head.

"Jump onto people while they're in bed! I could have been sleeping." Violet huffed.

"You weren't sleeping, you were groaning." Penny said before crawling up next to her.

Violet sighed, true.

"Okay maybe, but still don't do that." She said.

"Okay, can we make something to eat?" Penny asked.

Violet sat up. The others weren't here and Angela was upstairs...

"I guess we could, but no stove or oven food! We have to have an adult with us." She reminded the light orange monkey.

Penny frowned a bit.

"I don't think you can make cookies in a microwave."

"No cookies either."

Penny snapped her fingers.

"Dang! Okay then." She said as the two left the room and up to the main kitchen in the robot.

Penny looked through many different foods and began to think.

"Hmm what could we make today?" She sung.

Violet looked through the pantry.

"How about a sandwich?" She suggested.

Penny looked back at her and nodded.

"Yeah! Let's make one! I want a ham apple cheese pickle sandwich." She said, getting the apples out.

Violet blinked in surprise.

"And you say I make weird food."

"That's because you put gross stuff together. I like ham, cheese, pickles, an' apples." Penny said, searching for the pickles.

Violet rolled her eyes and went to get the bread.

"Okay then." She sighed, making a note to herself to clean everything up when it's over.

* * *

Maurice took it upon himself to organize some of the junk in the storage room they had. Not that it was that messy, it just needed to be tweaked a bit. As he set aside a box filled with 'Gift Day' decorations he came across a peculiar box. He pulled it out as Angela entered the room.

"Hey what'cha got there?" She asked.

Maurice opened the box and his eyes lit up.

"No way!" He said, pulling out what seems to be a weird black box.

Angela blinked before her eyes widened.

"Is that the old bubble machine we had!?" She asked, kneeling down to get a better look.

Maurice held it up a bit.

"It is! Oh wow remember when Sprx let us play with the bubbles when we were toddlers?"

"Yeah! Roland was only a baby at the time so he growled and tried to swipe at the bubbles!" Angela giggled.

The two laughed hard at the memory before Maurice looked down at the machine.

"You think it still works?" He asked.

Angela looked closely at the box.

"It should. I mean we were toddlers what for a few weeks at best?" She questioned before going silent.

The two sat there, the realization of her words setting in.

"M-maybe we should test it out." Maurice muttered.

Angela nodded, wanting to forget she even said anything. The two rush out and began to set up the bubble machine.

"Now all we need is a bottle of bubble juice and-" Angela began but Maurice whipped his head up.

"Bubble juice?" He questioned.

"Yeah, that's what it's called isn't it?" Angela asked, frowning.

Maurice was about to correct her when he thought about the term. He then let what Angela called it go, that was a good name for it anyway.

"I guess, I'll go get some from my room." He chirped before leaving to get some.

As he left, Angela patted the small bubble machine as if it were some pet. All of these old memories and nostalgia were flooding back, making her miss those times. Yet at the same time, she wondered how different it would be if Mandarin were here earlier.

* * *

Violet stood frozen at the mess before them. The bread slices were all over the counter and table, the pickle juice was dripping onto the floor, and the peanut butter that Penny decided to add on at the last minute was everywhere on the floor.

"How did you even do this?" She asked, not looking at Penny.

Penny looked towards the mess and shrugged.

"I dunno, it must be one of those tornadoes that Sprx compares my messes to." She said before biting into her sandwich.

Violet fell to her knees. How in the world was she gonna clean this up?! There were not enough wet wipes in the world to clean this up! Penny raised her sandwhich up.

"Don't worry Vi, we'll clean it up! We just need Angela's help when she comes back." She said with her mouth full.

Violet gulped. She hoped so.

Meanwhile Kuzon frustratedly threw down his controller and stood up.

"Okay you cheated!" He snapped.

Roland put up his hands.

"How is there cheating in golf?! It's golf!" He argued.

"I don't know, maybe you hacked into the game and rigged it." Kuzon accused, crossing his arms.

Roland then too stood up, hands on his hips.

"You think I know how to do that?! I'm not Violet I ain't smart enough to do weird things to my games! You're just mad because you suck!" He argued.

Kuzon growled and picked up his controller.

"I'll show you! Give me the hardest level and I will beat you!"

"It's on now sleepy butt!"

Watching the two as they began to furiously compete, Angela and Maurice were unsure whether to intervene or not.

"I have never seen your brother this mad before. It's kinda surreal." Angela said, not taking her eyes off the scene before her.

Maurice quickly turned to her.

"Are you kidding?! This is the same guy who gets mad if you interrupt him during when he's painting." He said before looking for a place to mess with the bubble machine.

"Now where to set this up?" Maurice muttered before setting it up on the one side of the room.

Angela knelt down as Maurice placed the bottle inside and turned it on. A few bubbles started to come out of the machine before a whole bunch of them started pouring out.

"Woah it really works!" Angela breathed.

Maurice nodded, no doubt taken back by the nostalgia.

Suddenly the machine made a weird clicking sound and then a whole flurry of bubbles started pouring out of the machine. Angela and Maurice looked at each other. Oh no.

* * *

Penny chewed her sandwich as Violet yelled while cleaning up. The team just sent her a message that the meeting was close to being done and they'll be coming home soon. How was it almost done?! They've only been there for an hour and they're already done?!

"Who plans for one hour?!" Violet ranted as she wiped down the counter.

"Mommy and the team do." Penny chirped.

Violet scoffed as she grabbed a swiffer mop and began to scrub the floor like mad.

"Careful Vi! You're gonna-!" Penny warned before Violet slipped and fell onto her back.

"Slip." Penny finished before getting up and going over to her.

Violet sat up and hissed in pain as she rubbed her back.

"Violet you gotta be careful when you mop! It makes the floors very slippery." Penny said matter of factly.

"Ugh I know. But they're coming home soon and I don't want them to see this!" Violet motioned to the mess still there.

Penny patted her cheek.

"But you can't just freak out about it. You're gonna slip and hurt yourself again. Lemme help!" Penny chirped before grabbing the wipes.

Violet shook her head.

"No Penny you need to finish your sandwich." She told her.

"I'm almost done anyway. I don't like crusties, they're gross." Penny chirped before cleaning up one of the peanut butter stains.

Violet blinked before sitting up.

"You're too mature, for a four year old."

"I'm almost five Violet!" Penny huffed.

"Yeah, yeah." Violet said, wondering if things were going as well for the others.

* * *

"How do we stop it?!" Angela panicked.

"Turn it off that's what!" Maurice yelled before pulling the plug out of the wall.

The bubble maker still kept making bubbles!

"What's going on?!" Angela yelled, scared.

"I don't know!" Maurice panicked.

He tried to open the machine to get the bubble container out, but the machine sparked at him.

He let out a yell and fell back in shock.

Kuzon growled before yelling in joy as Roland's mouth gaped open.

"How-?!"

"I did it! Finally!" The chubby monkey cheered, pumping his arms into the air.

Roland growled and stood up.

"Rematch!" He yelled.

Kuzon danced a bit.

"May-be la-ter! I just wanna celebrate my first win!" He chirped.

Roland blinked and sighed. He did just win for the first time, so for now Roland will let him have this. It was a bit fun. The two then noticed the amount of bubbles floating by before turning towards the panicked yellow and orange monkeys.

"Wha-?!" Kuzon began to ask before a bubble popped on his nose.

Roland sniggered.

"What is even happening?" He asked the two.

Maurice looked up at him with wild eyes.

"Stop standing there and help us! We can't turn it off!" He called.

Kuzon and Roland looked at each other before running over to them.

"Why is it still going?!" Roland asked.

"I don't know! We pulled the plug and it still won't stop making bubbles!" Angela yelled, a bubble popping on her cheek.

"Can't you just pull the bubble stuff out?!"

"Can't! It tried to shock me! It's like it has a mind of its own!" Maurice told him, hands on his head.

Kuzon placed a hand on his chin.

"Maybe we should just wait till it runs out of bubbles? I mean then the machine can calm down." He suggested.

Angela and Maurice looked at each other.

"That...that can work." Angela said as Maurice shrugged.

At that moment, Violet and Penny entered the room no doubt hearing the whole thing.

"I don't know if I would let it run for so long." She said as Penny gasped and tried to play with the bubbles.

The others looked at her.

"Why's that?" Roland asked.

Violet motioned towards the tubes.

"The team is on their way home and I don't know how they're gonna react to a bunch of bubbles pouring into the command center." She said.

A sudden silence came over them as Penny kept playing with the bubbles.

"We gotta turn it off." Maurice said before smacking the side of the machine.

"How?! If it sparks at you for trying to get the bubble container out how the heck are we gonna turn it off?!" Angela asked, waving her arms towards the no doubt monstrous machine.

Roland grabbed a mallet from the kitchen and ran towards the group.

"We just gotta put it out of its misery!" Roland declared but was stopped by Maurice.

"Oh no we are not smashing anything!" He yelled.

"Then tell me genius how are we gonna shut it off?!" Roland asked.

In the mist of bubbles, Kuzon searched all over the machine looking for a way to at least have the bubbles come out much slower when he noticed the sparking hatch where the bubble container was. He gulped as he tried to think of how to open it without getting shocked. He then noticed another hatch on the other side of the machine, the backup battery hatch. The battery backup was so that even if the cord was out, it would still run for a few minutes or so. Unlike the bubble container this was not sparking and seemed relatively normal. However Kuzon couldn't be too sure. He took a break before beginning to reach for the hatch. Violet noticed him and gasped.

"Kuzon no wait!" She warned but Kuzon had his fingers on the hatch door.

He was not shocked, and instead opened the hatch and forcibly took out the batteries. The bubble machine sputtered before powering down, letting out one more bubble before no more could come out. The kids were silent before they exploded into cheers.

"Kuzy saved the day!" Penny squealed, bouncing up and down.

"Fast thinking Kuzon, how did you know it had that battery thing?" Maurice asked.

Kuzon blinked.

"Well when we were younger I wanted to know how the machine worked so Otto gave me the directions to read and explained how it worked." The orange monkey explained, causing him to get some really confused looks.

"He explained to a toddler how a bubble machine worked and you understood it?!" Violet questioned.

Kuzon shook his head.

"Not all of it but I knew there was a battery backup just in case. Good thing that information came in handy huh?" Kuzon said with a smile.

"No kidding." Angela breathed before looking around at the still very bubbly room.

"Okay we took care of that...how are we gonna get rid of all these bubbles before the team gets home?" She asked before the four heard a creaking sound.

They turned to see Penny opening the one window the robot had, letting the huge amount of bubbles spill to the outside.

"Penny!" The four collectively yelled.

Penny turned to them.

"What? I'm getting the bubbles out."

"But the team is gonna see them!" Roland reminded her.

Penny blinked and tilted her head.

"Why would that be a bad thing?" She asked.

Kuzon motioned to the bubble machine.

"We're probably not supposed to have this out without their permission so we might get into trouble for that." He explained.

Penny turned to Angela.

"But Angela's in charge, shouldn't that mean that we should ask her to get the bubbly machine out?" She asked.

Angela froze.

"Well uh yeah I guess but..." She muttered.

"Wow it looks like you guys had fun while we were gone." A voice said behind them.

The kids quickly turned around to the Hyperforce and a sleeping Erin being held by Mandarin in the carrier.

"You're home!" Violet yelped, a little too loudly.

Penny smiled and ran over to them.

"Didja see the bubbles come out of the window?" She asked.

Sprx nodded.

"Yep, we were wondering what was going on but uh..."

The red monkey looked at the bubble machine and the batteries put aside.

"I think we got a pretty good idea on what happened." He said.

Penny nodded.

"The bubbles wouldn't stop coming out and then Kuzy had to take the batteries out." She explained.

Gibson sighed and closed his eyes.

"I told you to fix that thing." He muttered.

"I said I would! I just...got a bit busy..." Otto muttered, cheeks flushing a bit.

Nova looked towards the kids and gave them a small smile.

"You know you could have called us. We would have helped."

Maurice scratched his chin.

"Well I thought we would get in trouble because we didn't ask to get the bubble machine out..." He said.

Nova then looked over at Angela.

"Well if Angela is in charge then you better ask her. We don't mind really if you guys want to play with it." She said.

Angela blinked and scratched her chin.

"O-oh. Then I guess it would have been okay...if the machine didn't go crazy on us." She said before tapping the machine with her foot.

It shook slightly and sputtered before releasing a small bubble.

Sprx snickered and patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. Otto will fix it...now who wants to play with the fog machine?" He grinned, causing Penny to gasp loudly and the others to tense up.

Mandarin watched as half the group tried to talk Sprx down while the other half was all up in arms with playing with a fog machine.

"I am genuinely confused as to how a fog machine is fun." He muttered, causing Erin to make a few sleepy noises.

Mandarin shushed him to settle Erin back to sleep before looking back at the others. What was he so worried about?

* * *

D'awww mommy Mandarin is too precious. Anyway thanks for reading!  
-


	19. Chapter 19

Hey! More short chapters! Well this time is because I am super tired, one from going to bed and waking up early so my sleep schedule is out of wack and the heat...the evil cursed heat! Anyway Now let's see how the team's meeting went. Enjoy!

* * *

Now as for the team's meeting with the allies has gone considerably better than Mandarin thought it would turn out. After leaving the robot and making it to the underground base, Mandarin was led to the meeting site after going on the cart. It was a bunker that had several computers, showing many parts of the city and a long table with many chairs of varying sizes. He was quickly overwhelmed by the amount of allies that were there. He felt his legs shake a bit before he felt his arm being tapped, making him jump a bit. Mandarin looked down at Otto, who noticed his discomfort.

"You know, we got a little walker for Erin to play in." He said as Erin squealed at the amount of attention he was getting from the others.

Mandarin watched as he was placed into the walker and was given some toys.

"Ma-ba." Erin cooed, waving his toy butterfly around.

"Is he alright in there?" Mandarin asked, cocking his head a bit.

"Oh yeah he's fine, now go play with him." Otto led him to the small infant.

"Here's mommy, Erin!" Otto chirped before walking off.

Mandarin sat down as his son babbled a bit, smiling at his mom. The other allies kept looking back at him as everyone got into their seats, which made the large monkey feel a bit awkward.

"So uh Chiro is he...?" Johnny began to say before Chiro nodded.

"Don't worry, he agreed to coming here." He said softly as Nikita peeked over at him.

"No I mean is he gonna be okay talking about this? I mean I don't want him...you know..." Johnny muttered, scratching his chin.

Chiro looked back at Mandarin.

"I think he'll be okay, he's gotten a lot better these past few months." He said.

Johnny wasn't so sure but it's not like he could do much about it, so he just left it for now. Nikita smiled a bit.

"So how are you?" She asked.

Mandarin looked up at her as he tapped one of the small noise makers on Erin's playpen. Erin frowned as his mommy stopped playing as he gnawed on his butterfly.

"Tired, achy and heavy." He said, resting a hand on his belly.

Nikita chuckled but nodded.

"Don't worry it will pass soon." She said as Chiro began the meeting.

Chiro cleared this throat as everyone sat down.

"Okay has anyone seen the other robot monkeys wandering around the city?" He asked, eyeing around the room.

Oliana raised her hand.

"I saw the pink one gathering some metals, but when I tried to get to her she slipped away." She said.

Chiro nodded as Mandarin and Otto looked off to the side a bit when Artemis was mentioned.

"Yeah they've been pretty good getting away from people." He said.

"The question now is why are they taking so many metals with them? What does Skeleton King plan to use them for?" Master Offay questioned.

"Whatever they're planning to use, it must be something big, given with how much metals they've taken." Gibson hypothesized.

Chills went up Mandarin's spine hearing that. The others tried to figure out what it is they could be building.

"Whatever weapon they must be creating we must be ready for it. They're probably suspecting us to be unprepared to face whatever they are creating." Antauri said, with the others agreeing.

"Yeah those buttheads won't know what's coming!" Seren roared, pounding her yellow froggy fist into her hand.

She then jumped a bit when someone cleared their throat loudly and turned to Mandarin frowning.

"You do realize that my children were brainwashed into following Skeleton king's every command right?" He asked, not amused one bit.

Seren scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

"Oh yeah right." Seren muttered.

Mandarin sighed and went back to interacting with Erin, who was now gnawing on his butterfly toy.

"Erin it isn't food." Mandarin snickered.

"Eh?" Erin looked up at Mandarin curiously.

Chiro snickered at the two as Otto stood up.

"We got the guns and sticky bullets all set and ready to go! Now we just need to play the waiting game until...well until they get here." He said before shrugging.

Aurora six eyed Chiro.

"We can handle the monkeys, but what about those robots that are in the lab?" She asked.

"The robots?" Nikita asked.

The team uncomfortably looked over at Mandarin before Gibson explained.

"They were the robots that more or less took care of Mandarin and are responsible for turning the monkeys...well into what they are now."

The screen popped up the images of the robots as they were shown about to attack Antauri, Chiro, and Sprx the first time me they came down to the lab. Mandarin quickly looked down as soon as he saw them.

 _"Don't look at them don't look at them don't look at them. Focus on Erin, just focus on him."_ He thought as he kept interacting with Erin.

Erin noticed his mom's nervous behavior and whined a bit, confused as to why he was upset. His whining stopped when Mandarin placed his finger against his cheek and the grey monkey giggled.

One of the robo apes scoffed.

"Those little things? They don't seem so tough." They said.

Antauri looked over to them and frowned a bit.

"I know it may seem like that, but trust me they're extremely dangerous. They have an array of weapons and have larger bulkier robots with them. They have..." Antauri paused, unsure with how to say what he was going to say next.

"They have even manipulated and physically abused Mandarin multiple times, just so he would have stayed in that lab." He finished, causing the allies to whisper to each other worriedly.

Mandarin didn't look up, he dared not to look up. Were they judging him? No, of course not. From what he heard they seemed very concerned. However a part of him does not want their pity! What happened happened and there is not much else they can do about it. At least, those were the thoughts swimming around in Mandarin's mind.

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a brief moment, his heart racing again.

"So what should we do if they...if they try to take him back?" Nikita asked.

"Destroy them. What else?" Mobius Quint huffed.

"Yes but be careful, they're still a threat." Chiro reminded him.

Mandarin at this point mentally blocked all of their conversation and just focused on Erin. He had to.

"I can attempt to hack into the labs servers tonight to gather more information. But I have to be quick and quiet about it." Gibson stated.

Sprx scooted his chair a bit closer to the table.

"Wait aren't they not detecting us right now? Shouldn't you just hack and take your time?" He asked.

"It wouldn't hurt being careful Sprx. They could still detect him." Antauri said.

Johnny tilted his head.

"Wait how are they not detecting you? I thought their security would be pretty tight." He pointed out.

"That's what we keep thinking but apparently we've hacked in once and they didn't do anything." Nova explained.

"Now that's weird!" Johnny commented

Quint placed a hand on his chin for a while until an thought crossed his mind.

"You don't think they have a mole do you?" He pondered.

The others, including Mandarin, looked at him quizzically. Quint motioned towards the screen, where the robots were still shown.

"Think about it, they haven't attacked yet, their security is loose, they've been pretty quiet. Someone's gotta be down there pulling the strings." He said.

"Yeah but who?" Jinmay questioned, looking around.

Mandarin then felt a bit uncomfortable when everyone turned to him. He eyed the sides of the room.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" He asked.

"Well we were wondering if you knew anyone that could possibly be going against the other robots." Sprx said.

Mandarin wasn't sure if he was totally comfortable with thinking about the robots, but if it will help then...he took a deep breath.

"The robots had varying types of treating me. Some of them were...were terrible...however the very few robots that didn't either treated me so terribly or just checked up on me and whatever child I was carrying at the time, I'm unsure if any of them could go against their programming. If one of them did, I would suspect it would be 84." Mandarin suggested, rubbing his forearm.

"84?" Gibson asked, his posture straightening.

"He was in charge of putting the information about each and every piece of information. Information about all of you, Skeleton King, me, the information about the children's given roles...everything into their heads." He explained, remembering what happened to Violet.

"However whenever 84 and I would cross paths he's usually pretty decent, but was more strict with my children. Why I'll never know." Mandarin finished, closing his eyes.

Nova looked around, biting her lip before speaking.

"So you think that 84 robot could be the one keeping the other robots down there?" She suggested.

"Could be a possibility, but how did he go against his own programming?" Suupa asked.

The room was almost silent, minus Erin playing with his toys and babbling.

"Who knows for now. Gibson get as much information as you can and as quickly as you can." Chiro said to him.

Gibson nodded, making a quick note about hacking into their systems later.

"When the robots monkeys get here with their secret weapon, we'll have the allies on the building roofs ready to stop them while we distract them. If the robots happen to come out at the same time we'll split up our numbers and take them down." Chiro explained, using the map of the city to point out the locations of where they need to be.

The bridge and the alleyway where the entrance to the lab was.

"And no matter what, Mandarin must not be brought back to the lab. Under any circumstances do not let that happen." Antauri brought up.

Mandarin was about to argue and say he could protect himself but he paused. Well physically he could but mentally? Could he? Mandarin would have to seriously think about that. Otto noticed this and turned to Antauri.

"Couldn't he just protect himself? I mean-" he whispered to Antauri but the silver monkey put up a hand on his shoulder.

"I know he can, but still in case anything happens we still need to make it so it doesn't happen." Antauri replied.

Otto paused before nodding a bit before looking back at Mandarin, who was still in thought. He heard Chiro stood up.

"Well since everyone is in agreement, let's call it a day and go back to our duties. We'll send out an alarm in case they come a bit early." The young leader said, causing everyone to agree and begin to get ready to leave.

"Eriiin! Time to go home!" Otto chirped, picking him up.

Erin whined before resting his head against Otto's chest, now getting tired.

"Don't worry squish ball, maybe when we get home we can try to get you to crawl." Otto chirped before putting the grey monkey in the carrier.

Mandarin sighed heavily and struggled to get up until he finally got to his feet. Not only was this incredibly uncomfortable, but now that he has a crowd of people this was downright embarrassing.

"I...hate this." He wheezed, rubbing his aching back.

Otto patted his leg and they began to leave when Mandarin felt eyes on him. He turned to some of the allies suddenly coming up to him.

"You know once a month the team brings the kids over here and we have a huge dinner. Maybe if you're up to it maybe you can come along?" Nikita asked.

Wait why wasn't Mandarin told about this? Oh right because usually on those days he could barely get out of bed. He thought on her offer...well if he was able to...

"I'll...I'll try to." He briefly said before the others parted.

Mandarin watched as Roland stomped past him and into his room. He flinched as the door slammed shut as Sprx came down.

"You get back up there and apologize!" He yelled to Roland.

"Are you kidding?! Not happening!" Roland snapped.

Sprx rubbed his forehead and exhaled through his teeth. That kid and his anger issues.

"What happened now?" Mandarin asked, setting down a book he was reading.

Sprx quickly lifted his arms into the air.

"Your son and his temper! He wanted to go up to level four during training and when we tell him no he flips out!" He ranted.

That set Roland off? It seems that there was a bit more to the story than Sprx was letting on. Mandarin decided to look into this a bit more, so he got up and went over to Roland's room.

"Careful Mandarin, he tends to be explosive when he's mad." Sprx warned him.

Mandarin made a mental note of that as he opened the door and dodged a pillow as it flew past him. Roland stood on his bed, blind with rage before realizing Mandarin was in the room.

"Oh, mom! I'm sorry I didn't see you there." Roland said, his eyes softening.

Mandarin stepped into the room and inspected the damage, or what little damage there was. Sure the pillows look like they've seen better days but that was probably due to them being punched so much. That and his room was a bit messy but then again when wasn't it?

"It's fine. So I heard you and the others got into an argument?" Mandarin asked, still eyeing the room.

Roland shifted, as if he was about to yell again but sighed and began to explain.

"I was getting mad all day. My cereal spilled, I stubbed my toe, my game crashed, and I didn't sleep too good last night. The training thing was the camel that broke the straws-"

"Straw that broke the camel's back." Mandarin corrected him.

Roland frowned a bit.

"Really? That's how it goes? Anyway the training thing kind of made me explode, but I still want to go up a level or two. I think I'm ready." He finished.

Mandarin snickered, but covered his mouth with his hand.

"Roland level four is not 'a level or two'." He reminded him, making the green monkey grumble.

"Yeah yeah I know…"

Mandarin rubbed his child's head.

"I understand why you have gotten so upset but the team is only doing what's best for you right now. You'll get to level four someday, just not at this moment in time." He said.

Roland puffed the one side of his cheek. He guessed. Why is it that when Mandarin talked to him, he doesn't get as mad? Maybe the fact that in a way they were similar? Or at least that's what everyone else kept saying but at least he has someone who understands him. Other then maybe Violet.

"However you shouldn't take your anger out of them because you're having a bad day, nor should you just keep it in until…well something like earlier happened."

Roland sighed a bit, now feeling guilty for yelling at the others earlier. He made a mental note to apologize later.

"Yeah…this temper thing isn't doing me any favors. I could do with less groundings you know?"

Mandarin laughed a bit and looked around the room.

"Maybe we can find some sort of healthy outlet for your anger. Maybe if you took your anger out on a pillow maybe that will help." Mandarin offered.

Roland sucked some air through his teeth as he looked at his disheveled pillows.

"Every time I do try that I end up nearly ripping the thing up, and then the others would be upset and then I get more upset. Which the pillow thing would help but…"

Mandarin didn't disagree with him, but still he needed something. His eyes trailed to a box of tissues.

"Tearing up paper?"

Roland raised an eyebrow.

"My room is already kind of a mess I don't need to make it messier." He snickered.

"Hmm true…" Mandarin said before thinking.

"What about writing?"

"I tried that, I think I got even more mad after I wrote. That and my led keeps breaking so that makes me even more mad."

"Jeez, okay then perhaps a punching bag?" Mandarin suggested.

Roland pointed to a messier corner of the room.

"You see that pile of fluff?" He asked, receiving a nod from his mom.

"That was my punching bag."

Mandarin cringed at the huge pile of stuffing and fabric. That was a punching bag?!

"How did you do that?!" He exclaimed.

"I don't know anymore!" Roland dramatically yelled before falling back onto his bed.

Roland then laid on his belly, still looking at the pile.

"I just wish there was a way for me to destroy stuff but then it comes back together." He lamented.

Mandarin thought about what he said until an idea popped in his head.

"Maybe there is…"

* * *

Ooh what do you have planned Mandy? Anyway thanks for reading!


	20. Chapter 20

Okay I am so sorry for not updating last week! I got really busy with school and work and my energy was kaput after Sunday at Indypopcon...not the best excuse but eh what can you do? Anyway please enjoy!

* * *

Later that night after dinner, Mandarin spoke to Otto about his idea and the green monkey quickly got to work.

One day in the robot, Roland was getting pissed off because he couldn't have just one nap, all because he had a terrible night's sleep the night before.

"Kuzon gets to take naps all the time!" He argued.

Sprx and Gibson placed books in their respective shelves as the blue monkey sighed.

"Kuzon doesn't take a nap and then is up for half the night watching who knows what at loud volumes." Gibson said, frowning.

"I'll turn the volume down! Besides I can still go to sleep with or without a nap. Penny takes naps and she's two years younger than me." Roland pointed out.

Sprx put the last book away and looked back at Roland. His irritation was slowly building up, not just at their argument but from other things too.

"She's only four, younger kids need more sleep. Besides you can't just compare other kids to you, people are different." Sprx said, trying to get him to understand.

"But it's not fair! That's what I'm trying to say!" Roland yelled.

Sprx, letting his own anger take over, whipped around towards him.

"Well life ain't fair kiddo! So you better get used to that!"

"I know that! I'm just saying-!" Roland tried to argue but kept getting interrupted.

"Then what's the point of saying it's unfair?" Gibson questioned, crossing his arms.

Roland was just about to see red, this was getting so stupid!

"Don't twist my words! You never take anything I say seriously! First it was the fighting, then the training room, and now this!"

"Hey don't yell at him!" Sprx snapped, taking a step forward.

"You're yelling too! I'm sick of everyone pick on others for the mistakes they do and then they go and make the same mistakes!" Roland yelled, now completely red in the face.

What he didn't see coming up behind him caused Gibson and Sprx to look up.

"It's dumb it's dumb it's dumb it's-!" Roland repeated before he felt himself being picked up and held.

He turned to see Mandarin holding him close.

"I think it's time you need to cool down." He simply said.

Roland blinked, not disagreeing but was still a bit confused. Suddenly Mandarin turned and began to leave the room. Sprx sighed and smiled tiredly.

"Hey tha-"

"You two need to calm down too." Mandarin called back before leaving.

Sprx and Gibson froze and then looked at each other.

* * *

Roland clung to Mandarin as he took him down to the underground base and began to take him. The green monkey raised an eyebrow.

"Where are you taking me?" Roland nervously asked.

"You'll see."

Fear suddenly crept into Roland.

"Are you gonna punish me or-?!"

Mandarin looked at him and gave him a startled look.

"Punish? Like corporal punishment? No of course not." He scoffed.

Roland sighed a bit but frowned.

"Wait you aren't?"

"No, I'm against that on children. Experts say it seriously affects brain development and I like having my children with healthy brains. Besides you're all usually well behaved." Mandarin explained.

Roland's eyes widened.

"Really? Huh, never thought you would. I mean I just assumed-"

Mandarin shook his head.

"No I would never…wait has the others used corporal punishment on you?" Mandarin asked, his tone of voice becoming serious.

Roland quickly shook his head.

"No no they never spanked us." He answered, laughing nervously.

Mandarin sighed in relief.

"Good, I wouldn't let them. Anyway no, I'm taking you somewhere you can let your anger out in a more…healthy way." Mandarin said before stopping at a door that Roland realized he hasn't seen before.

He has heard some construction going on the past few days but he wasn't allowed to see what it was for some reason. Mandarin opened the door and set Roland down on the floor. He saw a huge punching bag, several pillows, stress toys, and other anger releasing items. Roland's eyes widened as Mandarin closed the door behind him.

"What is this?" Roland asked soflty.

"A place where you can unleash all of your anger." Mandarin simply said, smiling a bit.

Roland stared at the room, his mouth slowly opening.

"You mean I get to destroy all of this?" He asked.

Mandarin nodded.

"And it can be put back together whenever you want."

Roland stood there for a good while before hugging Mandarin's knees.

"This is best non birthday present ever!" He squealed before darting over to the pillows and started tearing them up, babbling and screaming about what happened earlier the whole way.

"So when a kid like me does something wrong that's bad but if an adult does it suddenly it's okay?! How is that freaking fair?! Oh right because life isn't fair! Of course it isn't don't you think I know that?!" Roland ranted, punching one of the pillows before kicking it to the other side of the room.

"All I am asking is for a little less hypocrisy, is that okay?! Is that okay that a kid asks that?!"

Mandarin sat down and watched his child tear and break through many of the things he set out. He sighed, there was no doubt that Roland was his mother's son.

After Roland trashed the room he went over to his mother and collapsed. Mandarin placed a hand on his back.

"Feel better?" He asked, receiving a nod.

"Much better." Roland sighed as he curled towards Mandarin.

The two were silent before Mandarin asked, "What happened before I came in?"

Roland sighed and rubbed his face.

"I wanted to take a little nap since I didn't sleep too good last night, but Sprx and Gibson won't let me! Something about screwing up my sleep schedule but Penny and Kuzon get to nap all the time and they sleep just fine." Roland grumbled.

Mandarin nodded slightly, letting him continue.

"But I'm the same way you know? I mean one nap isn't going to keep me up all night and I don't even take really long naps. I just…I don't know. It's dumb." Roland said, staring up at the ceiling.

"Did you tell Sprx and Gibson this?" Mandarin asked.

Roland sat up.

"Yeah I did! But then Sprx went on and on about how Penny is young and needs more sleep than me.".

Mandarin sighed, getting a little irritated himself.

"I'll try to talk to him and explain that you can sleep fine. For now I guess you can take a twenty minute nap here, just as soon as I get the pillows put back together." Mandarin said, reaching for a button on the wall and pressing it.

Then the mess that Roland created before suddenly faded back into what it was before. Roland's eyes widened as he looked up at Mandarin.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

Mandarin nodded and patted a spot on the floor.

"But only for twenty minutes, it will enhance your alertness and concentration. As well as mood." Mandarin said, smirking at the last part.

Roland scoffed but nodded. He grabbed a pillow and curled up with Mandarin before falling asleep. He made a mental note to use this room more often.

Roland didn't realize that after his nap and after making up with Sprx and Gibson, that Mandarin's thoughts were starting to shift his mood. From content and calmness to worry and depression. He wasn't even sure how it started, he was thinking about so many things that one thought suddenly dragged him down. Mandarin composed himself and excused himself from their conversation and went to his room and curled up, tears slipping from his eyes. One thought that kept plaguing his mind was,

" _Is our love fake?"_

* * *

Otto wasn't surprised but at the same time wasn't expecting Mandarin curled up on his bed sobbing. He quickly got onto the bed and snuggled up with him.

"Cutie pie what's wrong?" Otto asked, stroking his face.

Mandarin quickly shook his head and dug his face into Otto's chest. Otto stroked his head as a plethora of questions went through his mind.

"Honey…" Otto's face drooped as he stroked his head.

"Ot…to…" Mandarin said in between fits of crying.

Otto looked down at him and blinked.

"Yeah Mandarin?" Otto asked.

"Did…did you get into this relationship with me o-out of sympathy?" Mandarin sniffled, looking up at him.

Where did that come from?! Otto quickly shook his head and held Mandarin's face.

"Of course not Mandy! Why would you think that?" Otto asked.

Mandarin sniffled and shuddered.

"Because...we entered into this relationship pretty quickly. How do I know that it isn't built on simple bedside treatment? Nurses do this when they fall in love with their patients...so is that the case for us?" Mandarin asked, eyes filling up with tears.

Otto felt his chest paining hearing that, he was still confused as to where Mandarin got this idea but he decided to leave it for now and nuzzle him.

"Mandy that's not true. My love for you is genuine, I wouldn't lie to you about that." Otto said, stroking his face.

Mandarin eyed the side of the room, unsure.

"And yeah we did enter this relationship a bit early but I think we're gonna be fine. Besides it's not like I haven't felt anything before you betrayed us." Otto admitted, scratching his chin.

Mandarin raised his head at that.

"What?"

Otto's face flushed as he looked down. Already a month into their relationship and he still gets nervous around him.

"Weeeellll before ya went all evil on us I...sorta kinda had a thing for ya." He admitted the last part a little quieter.

Mandarin flinched back a bit in surprise.

"You did? Why didn't you say anything?" He asked, slowly smiling.

"I didn't think you'd feel the same way. I thought you had your heart set on Nova-"

"Nova?!" Mandarin began laughing.

Otto tilted his head, almost laughing himself.

"So you didn't have a crush on her?" He asked.

Mandarin shook his head as he tried to calm himself down. Otto sighed in relief as he laid back down. Mandarin soon settled down as he scooted closer to the green monkey.

"I-I was in your position back then too. I thought you weren't interested so I just admired you from afar." He said softly.

Otto's face brightened as he laid his head next to his.

"So we were just hiding from each other then huh?" He said as Mandarin snickered.

"I guess we have!" Mandarin snickered as Otto placed his hands on his face.

Otto smiled warmly before kissing him.

"Now see? It's fine, my love for you is real." He said softly.

Mandarin eyed off to the side, still smiling a bit.

"I'm sorry-"

Otto quickly shook his head and smooched him before he said anything else.

"No, don't be. I'm happy you told me instead of keeping it to yourself. You need to let me know what's going on more." He said before snuggling with him again.

Mandarin sighed and rested his head above his. The two were comfortable for a long time until Mandarin felt Otto pat his cheek.

"You wanna get ice cream?" He asked.

"Hmm I guess I could, I can go get the other child-" Mandarin was about to say before Otto shook his head, a little smirk growing on his face.

"No, alone. Like a date." He said, whispering the last part.

Mandarin raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Oh I see your game, let me get up and we'll get going." He said, sitting up.

The two then left the robot and began to head towards the ice cream shop.

"Maybe if we get a big bowl we can balance it on your tummy." Otto jokingly suggested, elbowing Mandarin gently.

Mandarin only scoffed, but smiled.

* * *

Chiro sat atop the robot, looking out into the sunset.

"Look into sunsets often?" Jinmay asked, sitting next to him.

Chiro laughed and wrapped an arm around her.

"Only when I'm thinking."

Jimmy rested her head on his shoulder.

"About what?" She asked.

Chiro turned his attention back towards the sunset and the castle.

"Just everything that has been happening in the past year. The kids being here, Mandarin coming back, the labs and what Skeleton King has done...it feels too much in just one year hasn't it?" He asked, looking back at her.

Jinmay nodded and clutched her knees.

"It has, but that's necessarily not a bad thing you know." She pointed out.

A slight breeze brushed past them, making Chiro shiver, but he nodded.

"Oh yeah I know...say quick question."

Jinmay looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Yeah?"

Chiro held her hand.

"Do you still want to look where you came from? Your home? I mean I know you tried to once or twice and ended up coming back here." He said, feeling guilty at the end.

Jinmay thought about what he said.

"Yes I do...I mean I still want to know where I came from but you...this city...Shuggazoom is my home." She said softly.

Chiro swore he was falling in love with her again as he smiled and held her hand.

"But after the war I am going to try to look for where I came from, but this time with a bit more help if that's okay with you." Jinmay said.

Chiro nodded, he would be more than happy to help.

"I would love to, I'm sure the others would feel the same way." He said before kissing her cheek.

Jinmay wrapped her arms around him and smiled brightly. Honestly being with Chiro and the others was probably one of the best things that could have happened to her, thought she felt she didn't have to tell Chiro that. He already knew.

"Thank you...thank you so much! I love you." She said.

Chiro has never turned his head faster in his life.

"Wha-? What?"

Jinmay looked up at him.

"I just said I love you." She clarified.

Chiro' face turned a bright red.

"Erm uh I...you too."

Jinmay laughed as Chiro ducked his head. She then tilted his head up and kissed him.

"Dating for a while and yet you're still like this." Jinmay giggled before resting her head on his shoulder.

"Well can you blame me?"

The two then sat up there and watched the sunset, curled up with each other.

* * *

Nawww I wanted to add some Chinmay because...well it's just a pure sweet ship and I love it so much! I love Manotto too but still. Thanks for reading and I will try not to delay the updates next time.


	21. Chapter 21

Hey everyone! I hope you enjoy this really nice chapter. Really, really nice.

* * *

Erin groaned later that night as he sat up and looked around his room in the darkness. He was so bored! He had nobody to play with, well except his caterpillars, Judy and Pumpkin. He really likes pumpkins. But they didn't talk or anything, and that's not fun!

Erin started babbling very loudly, hoping someone would wake up and come see him. Usually it works when he cried.

"Baaaaaa!" He yelled before falling on his back from the force.

The sudden shock of the fall caused him to blink before crying, both in frustration and in shock.

Suddenly the door opened as Mandarin entered the room, Erin's cries were nearly stopped as he sat back up and lifted his arms. His mommy looked worried for a second.

"How am I going to hold you?" He muttered.

Erin tilted his head, still sniffling. Mandarin looked around the room, unsure of what to do.

"Muuuh!" Erin whined, waving his arms.

Mandarin looked back at him before pausing. He pursed his lips before exhaling.

"I'm going to take a risk." He said slowly.

"Eh?" Erin asked before Mandarin pulled down the front of the crib and held out his hand.

"Can you crawl yet?" Mandarin asked.

Erin stared at his giant hand before nuzzling it. Mandarin blinked.

"Okay maybe not. Well then let me just..."

Erin felt himself being scooped up in one giant hand and being held in the other. He clutched Mandarin's finger as he looked down at his crib. His jaw dropped when he saw how high he was. Erin turned to Mandarin and smiled.

"Ub!" Erin yelled, raising both arms in the air.

Mandarin shakily sighed, trying his best to not have his hands shake.

"Okay...I won't drop him...I won't drop him..." He said to himself as he sat down.

Erin completely forgot why he was crying earlier and looked down at everything. It was just so cool! He turned to Mandarin and smiled, having the time of his life.

"You're seven months right now, according to infant development books you should have been crawling since last month...but then again they didn't say that most infants develop differently." Mandarin muttered.

Erin didn't really pay much attention, just kept looking over Mandarin's hand and cooed.

He was suddenly confused when Mandarin placed him on the floor.

"Well then maybe we should start trying. Here I will put this," He placed one of his toys a bit aways from Erin.

"over here, and you can attempt to crawl over there." Mandarin said, sitting down.

Crawl? Erin tried that and it didn't work out so well. He saw other babies do it and...for some reason he can't do it himself. Was there something wrong with him? Erin frowned at the toy before getting into the position to crawl, he started to force himself to go back and forth...and then he slid to the floor and groaned. He quickly got back up and tried a few more times before sliding back to the floor and groaning some more.  
He felt Mandarin rub his back.

"Don't be discouraged. You will get there eventually, it's a natural thing." His mom said soothingly.

Erin sniffled, feeling so frustrated.

"I'm proud of you for trying anyway, that is what matters to me."

Erin sniffled even more and picked himself up and looked back at Mandarin. He smiled sadly and placed his finger on his cheek. Erin sniffled again and looked back at the toy. He was proud of him anyway? Even when he still can't crawl? That somehow filled him with such determination that he looked right at the toy and began to force himself to go forward and put one hand in front of the other.

"Come on...you got this." Mandarin whispered.

Erin took a deep breath before pulling himself forward and made his way towards the toy. He grabbed it and pulled it towards him. He looked down at the toy and blinked. Did he just-?

He felt Mandarin picking him up and holding him close.

"I said you would get there." He said happily before kissing his head.

Erin blinked before the realization hit him and he gasped. He then clung to Mandarin and babbled happily, bouncing a bit.

Suddenly he wanted to crawl all over the place, who knows what he could find! He looked down over Mandarin's hand and babbled loudly. Mandarin set the grey monkey down as he crawled back over to his toy and began gnawing on it.

Mandarin sighed as he looked around the room, making a few notes on where to keep Erin out of danger. However he looked down at Erin and smiled a bit.

After setting Erin back to sleep, Mandarin sat in the kitchen, knowing he himself won't be getting any sleep from the constant kicking.

"I was beginning to actually get on a healthy sleep schedule again. Thanks for that." He huffed, stroking his stomach.

He looked around the room before deciding to get himself some hot chocolate with peppermint. As it was being made he kept an ear out in case someone would enter. Mandarin used his telepathy to raise the cup and then drink it. This was nice, just peace and quiet.

He sat in the living room as he kept sipping his hot chocolate and stroking his large stomach, settling the twins.

It was so peaceful and yet at the same time he was still alone in his thoughts.

"I'm sorry you have to be born in a world as miserable as this. With a mentally ill mother and a war like environment." He said softly as he kept one hand on his abdomen.

"I wish the circumstances were better, that all of this wasn't as unfortunate as it is. However it is what it is...I'm not saying that there isn't anything good that came out of this. You two and your siblings are a great example." Mandarin said, trying to reflect on the positives.

That and him being with Otto, having some shred of hope that the other children will be away from Skeleton King, and that bone bag will be gone. That and hopefully his relationship with the others will be better, it sort of is now but...

Mandarin sat back and looked up at the ceiling. He wants their relationship to be better again, however how is he going to do that when he himself is too awkward to try? Should he let things run their course and have it get better overtime? Was it too late? Mandarin wasn't sure what to do, but a part of him does want to fix it. He decided to figure that out later as he continued to sip his hot chocolate.

Mandarin sighed a bit at the peaceful quietness of the night, the few moments of peace he doesn't get to have.

* * *

The team finished everything for the anticipated invasion and are now just playing the waiting game. It was a tense and very nerve wracking game indeed. It also was at least four more weeks left until the twins arrival.

Mandarin himself was growing tired of being pregnant and was now ten times more emotional, but now due to regular pregnancy hormones than his usual emotional instability.  
However Otto helping him in anyway he could makes it better.

One cloudy day after lessons, Roland was peeking into the storage room. He was bored and was looking around for something to get out and do, or something juicy he can read about. He came across a small box. Roland frowned, where did this box come from? Curiosity got the better of him as he grabbed the box and opened it. In the box was a piece of brown leather-y armor and two dark orange gloves that peeked Roland's interest. These didn't look like normal gloves, so what were they? He picked up the box and rushed out of the room. Roland saw Nova walking by and rushed up to her.

"Nova! What are these?" He asked, holding the box out.

Nova frowned a bit in confusion before her expression changed to concern.

"Where did you find these?" She asked seriously.

Roland pointed to the storage room.

"In there, are these gauntlets? They look really cool!" He said.

Nova looked down at the gloves. The last time these were around, Skelemandarin had them before he was eaten by the dark one worm. How did they get back here?

"Y-yeah...these were your mother's gloves." She said softly.

Roland's eyes widened at this and his mouth dropped.

"Really? These were his?" He asked, taking the gloves from her and putting them on.

Nova nodded, getting a bit nervous. Roland held out his hands, smiling.

"These are so cool! Did mom punch people across the city?" He asked.

Nova snorted and laughed.

"No, they don't do that. They turn into a sword and shield but I don't think-"

"A sword?! Cool! Hang on lemme try!" Roland said before looking down at his gloves.

How does the team activate their weapons? He guessed it was something in their programming but how did his mom activate these things? Hmm maybe if he moved them a certain way.

Before Roland could do much else, he moved something inside them and a sword and shield made of blue energy popped out and Roland stepped back a bit from the shock.

"Woah! Woaaah these are so cool!" He breathed, a huge smile forming on his face.

He turned to Nova but when he looked at her face, he saw how scared she looked. Her hands shook and her eyes were wide. Roland blinked before looking at the gloves and shutting off the sword and shield. He quickly took them off and handed them to Nova.

"Here, you'd probably say something like I'm too young to use these or whatever, right?"

Nova snapped back into reality when Roland spoke and smiled, taking the gloves and putting them back in the box.

"Yeah, probably." She said before turning around, ready to put them back.

"I'm not gonna be like him you know." Roland suddenly said.

Nova looked back at him, who was fiddling with his fingers.

"I know I'm a lot like mom but that doesn't mean I'm gonna be evil like he was when I get older. That's just not me." Roland assured her.

Nova felt a little bit assured hearing that, but still seeing Mandarin's gloves on him was...

She shook her head and smiled.

"Yeah...yeah I guess you're right."

Roland smiled before running off.

"Now speaking of mom, I gotta find him!" He cheered, running past her.

"Why?"

"I'm bored!"

"I got some chores for you to do if you're bored!" Nova half jokingly called out.

However Roland was already gone and the gold monkey sighed.

"Kids."

Meanwhile, Mandarin was peeking into the new nursery, holding a sleepy Erin. Everything was set up and ready for the twins arrival. He smiled before looking down at Erin.

"What do you think? Doesn't it look nice?" He asked the small infant.

Erin lifted his head and looked into the room. It was nice, but he was too tired to give a proper response. He turned and yawned before laying against Mandarin's head. The orange monkey chuckled before stroking his son's head.

"Okay I'll get you to sleep." He said before walking back to Erin's room.

As Mandarin walked back into Erin's room, he looked around. The walls were white and lacked much other decorations other than Kuzon's painting. It honestly looked kinda boring.

"Hmm, you know we should decorate this room a bit. It just isn't fair that the other room was so nice looking, isn't it?" Mandarin said to Erin.

Erin lifted his head again and looked at his room before looking up at Mandarin and smiling tiredly.

"Maybe if we have time we can paint your room and make it look nice. Now the color of the room...hmm...what did Kuzon say your favorite color was again?" Mandarin muttered.

Erin looked back at his room and smiled.

"Was it orange? No he said it was something like..."

Erin wiggled a bit.

"'Ink!" He chirped.

Mandarin quickly looked down at him.

"What?" He asked, wondering if his ears were deceiving him.

"'Ink!" Erin babbled.

Mandarin's face lit up as he snickered.

"Are you trying to say pink?"

Erin nodded.

Mandarin snickered before kissing the top of his sons head. There was a feeling of pride and happiness flowing through him right now. He made a mental note to tell the team about this.

"Your first word...and it's ink." Mandarin snickered.

Erin shook his head.

"'Ink!" He huffed, finding it hard to pronounce the 'P'.

Mandarin laughed a bit more before setting him down in his crib.

"Okay, I'll tell the other that you want your room to be painted pink and that your first word was ink." Mandarin joked the last part.

Erin huffed and frowned.

"Erin it's adorable." Mandarin snickered before stroking his head.

He left the room shortly after Erin fell asleep and went up to the command center, where most of the others were at. Roland looked up from his comic book and ran over to Mandarin.

"Mom! I'm bored!" He whined, climbing on him.

"But you were reading." Mandarin said to him.

"Yeah but I was waiting for you. Now I'm less bored." Roland patted his mom's head.

Mandarin sighed as he sat down next to Otto, who curled up with him and stroked his belly.

"Hi Mandy." Otto cooed.

"Hello, Erin said his first word." Mandarin nonchalantly said, grabbing everyone's attention.

"What?! What was it?!" Chiro asked, quickly putting down one of Gibson's scanners.

"You didn't record it?!" Sprx asked, miffed.

"He was tired Sprx, anyway he was trying to say pink...keyword being trying." Mandarin explained, trying really hard to suppress his laughter.

Roland laughed.

"Roland, he was trying." Antauri sighed.

"Still it's a bit funny." Roland giggled.

"J-just a little bit, and really adorable." Mandarin snickered.

Otto giggled before leaning his head on Mandarin's arm.

"So maybe later you and I can walk in the park and-"

"I am not walking anywhere!" Mandarin argued.

Otto frowned and asked, "Why?"

"Have you seen the way I've been walking recently?! I am not going to let any citizens see me like this." Mandarin grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Yet you let us see you waddle every-" Sprx muttered before Nova elbowed him.

"Shush."

Roland glared daggers at Sprx as Mandarin kept talking to Otto.

Mandarin's attention was then taken away when he saw Angela enter the room. He got up and set Roland down.

"Hold that thought." He said to Otto before going over to the yellow monkey.

Angela was going into the lab to check on Violet and Gibson, knowing that they both needed a break.

"Angela."

Angela stopped walking and turned to Mandarin.

"Yeah mom?" She asked

Mandarin sighed, knowing that it was now or never.

"Angela, about how you were born and how you feel about it...I know you're still struggling with it..."

Angela sighed, not wanting to bother Mandarin with this.

"Mom I said-"

Then a voice that neither party wanted to hear sent chills down their spines.

 _"Well isn't this just a pathetically lovely scene?"_

Everyone turned to an image of Skeleton King with Skelemandarin a ways behind him.  
Gibson and Violet rushed out when they heard his voice. Mandarin's blood ran cold and he felt sick as he saw Skeleton King.

"Skeleton King?! What do you want?!" Chiro growled.

Skeleton King chuckled darkly.

 _"I just wanted to see if Angela has gotten my gift yet."_ He said looking at her.

Angela tensed up.

"W-what gift?" She asked.

 _"Your mother's gloves, I sent them to you. Resized them and everything."_

Nova flinched as she looked at Roland. Roland growled, a white hot rage filling him and he ran in front of Angela and a frozen Mandarin.

"You have a lot of nerve showing your ugly face around here you know that?!" He barked.

"Roland!" Antauri called to him.

Skeleton King raised an non existent eyebrow.

 _"Well well, is this how you raise one of my soldiers Mandarin? Into a disrespectful little brat?"_ He asked harshly.

Mandarin didn't answer, his eyes were locked with his former masters as his breathing slowly became labored. Roland growled and pointed a finger at him.  
 _  
_"You keep him out of this and stay away from my family!" He yelled.

Skeleton King chuckled darkly.

 _"I'm just reminding them of their place, child. Your sister is meant to fight for me and your 'mother',"_ he nearly spat that word out

 _"Should be back in the lab where he's supposed to be, giving birth to my army."_ Skeleton King glared at Mandarin.

Then Otto got in front of Mandarin, just as pissed as Roland was.

"They're not your army and Mandarin is never going back there! He is not your baby machine!" He snarled.

Skeleton King chuckled darkly, sending shivers up Mandarin's spine.

 _"Have you forgotten why I created him? One of the underlying purposes of transforming him?"_ Skeleton King question.

"Stop." Mandarin weakley said, but it felt as if his mouth was full of cotton.

 _"It was not only so he will destroy Chiro, but to create the most powerful army to exist with his body alone! To go where biology only dreamed of going! That is...if I only had to go that route as a last resort."_ Skeleton King continued.

Mandarin began shaking.

 _"However since you, Mandarin, were so incompetent to do even the most simplest of plans you gave me no choice! I had to place you in that lab, I had to force you to have so many infants, I had to because it is what you deserved. You still deserve it."_ Skeleton King continued.

Chiro clenched his fists, sickened.

"No he doesn't! No one deserves the sick torture you put him in!" He barked.

Skeleton King glared at him harshly.

 _"Do you think you have any right to say that after all that he's done to you and your filthy primates?! He betrayed them and tore your precious Jinmay's head off! Are you sure he doesn't deserve any of this?"_

"No! Because forcing someone to get pregnant and turn their kids into an army is sick!" Nova exclaimed, not noticing that Mandarin sunk to his knees.

Skeleton King sighed.

 _"Oh dear Nova, you are just overcome by pity. Now am Angela why are you stuck with these lessors when you can become who you were meant to be?"_ He asked the young girl.

Angela shakily looked at him.

"I...I don't understand." She said.

Skeleton King chuckled.

 _"I know you have been feeling a little confused about your existence for some time. Wondering about your ultimate purpose and destiny."_

Angela felt her skin crawl, but she couldn't turn away. She couldn't help but listen.

 _"Well not to worry my child, your destiny is as clear as day. You are supposed to be the second in command of my army, why else would you have been born?"_ Skeleton King questioned.

Angela too then felt her blood run cold. Chiro turned to Otto and Gibson.

"Find some way to cut the signal. Now!" He ordered.

Gibson and Otto nodded and ran towards the control panel.  
Skeleton King turned to Violet.

 _"And you, Violet was it?"_

"Don't say my name." Violet growled, growing more and more pissed.

 _"You are supposed to be in charge of the labs, overlooking Project Artemis."_

Violet was taken back by this. She was supposed to? Really, her?

"Well that explains why I know a lot about the labs..." She muttered but shook her head.

"Yeah but so what?! I ain't falling for your tricks!" She snapped.

"Me too!" Roland growled.

Skeleton King motioned behind them.

 _"Maybe so but do you think they are so strong willed?"_

The others turned towards Angela and Mandarin. Angela looked down, her eyes clouded in confusion and pain. Meanwhile Mandarin was on his knees, feeling sick and found it hard to breathe.

Skeleton King sneered, just one more thing to break him into submission.

 _"Oh and just to make sure you'll come back to me when my army wins, if you don't go back to doing what you were supposed to be doing Mandarin,"_

Mandarin lifted his head as Skeleton King motioned Roland and Violet.

 _"then I will have no choice but to subject your children to the same fate."_ Skeleton King said coldly.

Mandarin's breath caught as Roland held onto Violet. The image of that danced around in Mandarin's head, so much that it started to open back up a terrible memory he suppressed, or at least he thought he did. The team got in front of them and got their weapons out.

"You try that and I swear we will end you!" Antauri snarled.

Skeleton king's eyes narrowed.

 _"Then I suggest you be prepared. I will be ready to end this war."_

"So will we! I will finish you!" Chiro growled.

"Not before I finish him first!" Roland yelled.

"Don't leave me..."

The team turned to Mandarin, as he was shaking and hot tears flowing down his face.

"I promise I'll do better...I'll do anything just please don't leave me here!" He yelled, covering his face with his hands.

Skeleton King chuckled as the signal started to go fuzzy.

 _"My work here is done._ " He said.

Roland whipped his head and growled.

"Get back here you bast-!"

The signal was then cut, the screen going black. So much rage was flowing through Roland.

"Mandarin!"

Roland turned his head as Mandarin was breathing heavily and tears kept flowing down his face.

"M-mom!" He yelled before running over to him.

"He's having a panic attack, we need to settle him down!" Gibson exclaimed.

"How?!" Sprx asked.

Otto climbed up to Mandarin, but In Mandarin's head he thought one of the robots was trying to hold him down so he threw Otto off.

"Get off! Skeleton King please don't leave me here!" Mandarin begged.

"Otto!" Nova exclaimed as Otto grimace in pain.

Chiro looked around, trying to figure out what to do.

"Why?! Why would you do this?! After everything I've done,why?!" Mandarin continued yelling, shaking violently.

"Chiro we may need to sedate him!" Gibson called out.

"But the twins!" Nova reminded him.

Roland watched as Angela darted from the room and looked back to Mandarin. Suddenly he heard a voice from behind him.

"You want to hear the time I dyed Roland's fur red for a week!?" Violet yelled over everyone.

The room fell into silence as almost everyone, minus Mandarin, looked at her. Violet looked from side to side. She wasn't sure if this was gonna work, but she had to at least try.

"So I was working on a fur lotion experiment and I wanted Roland to try it out." Violet said, eyeing Roland.

Roland was confused at first until he realized what she's doing.

"Oh! Yeah! Yeah I was playing a game and Violet just went over to me and dragged me to the lab like, she didn't even see the game I was playing!" Roland said, trying to get Mandarin's attention.

The others kept watching them, wondering what the heck their plan was. Mandarin didn't look up, he just kept breathing heavily and muttering to himself. Violet and Roland ran to the front of the group, just so they could get a better look at them.

"So then I told Roland about my invention and he was like," Violet started before motioning to Roland.

"The heck do you need to make lotion for? We have fur!" Roland dramatically huffed, crossing his arms.

"So then I convinced him that it will help his fur get all shiny and nice, just so that you can treat it while you're out. So I applied the lotion to his fur and-"

"And it started turning red after a few minutes!" Roland exclaimed.

"Oh jeez I remember that." Nova groaned as Sprx snickered.

Otto noticed Mandarin's muttering started getting softer as he walked up next to him. He eyed the kids to keep going.

"So we tried to wash it out but for some reason the lotion spread all throughout his arm and shoulder!" Violet exclaimed.

"I kept screaming at you too I remember that. I kept screaming, "You stupid jerk do you realize how freaking stupid it would look if I have just a red arm?! You should not be in science you dummy!' And I think that made her mad, because she then proceeded to rub the lotion all over me in a fit of rage." Roland said before snickering.

"You did make me mad! Saying I shouldn't be in science over a dumb mistake." Violet pouted before snickering.

"You made fur lotion and somehow made it into hair dye!" Roland exclaimed.

When they noticed Mandarin wasn't looking any better they had to think of another story and quick.

"Okay but mom do you want to hear about the time Roland and I accidentally flooded the bathroom?" Violet asked, a cheeky grin forming on her face.

"Wait how did you do that?!" Chiro asked before Nova shushed him.

"Well we were toddlers and we were getting ready for bed. I think Roland was really tired because he kept nodding off because when he was about to put away his toothbrush he dipped and his hand hit one of the loose knobs and water shot down from the sink and started spraying us. Then it filled the sink and then the floor..." Violet began.

She felt that Mandarin was starting to calm down because his breathing started to settle, yet he still didn't look up.

"Yeah and it was the cold water thankfully." Roland sighed.

"Thankfully?" Violet questioned.

Roland nodded.

"At least it wasn't scalding hot!" Roland laughed.

Violet nodded, good point.

"Anyway you'd think we'd go to the others and tell them what happened...well..." Violet's voice trailed off.

"We kinda didn't." Roland coughed.

Mandarin sniffled, still shaking slightly.

Violet began to walk over to one of the bubble chairs.

"Instead we proceeded to climb up on top of the toilet and scream." She said as she was climbing up on the chair.

"You're gonna demonstrate?" Roland asked, eyebrow raised.

"Oh yeah, so hang on." Violet said before holding out a hand.

Roland grabbed her hand and began to pull himself up.

"Be careful!" Jinmay warned.

Violet waved her free hand as she kept looking at Roland.

"Don't worry we do this stuff all the time. Now give me your other hand." She said before grabbing Roland's other hand and pulling him up.

The two sat up on top of the bubble chair.

"So mom in our memory we were screaming this, 'There's so much watah! Watah! Heeeelp!' and a bunch of stuff like that until Antauri and Gibson came in. The water was like an inch at that point and it just spilled at their feet! Antauri was so mad!" Violet laughed as Roland huffed.

"It was an accident." Roland grumbled.

Antauri sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"I know that now." He said before noticing Mandarin was starting to look up at them, tears still streaming down his face. Otto started stroking his arm.

"So it took forever to clean up and we still had to get up for lessons!" Roland huffed.

"It wasn't that long, but anyways Otto replaced and tightened the knob and thankfully we have never had the bathroom flood since." Violet said before noticing Otto was comforting him.

"It's okay Mandy, you're safe. You're safe here. You're right in the robot with us." He said softly, stroking his face.

Mandarin's eyes got back into focus before looking down at Otto.

"Ot..." Mandarin breathed before hugging him slightly.

Roland and Violet hopped down and ran over to Mandarin.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Roland asked, clinging to his arm.

Mandarin nodded a bit, not looking at him.

"I...I think so." He said before beginning to get up.

Until he quickly went back down due to the extreme pain in his stomach.

"Ack!" Mandarin wheezed and clutched his stomach, then he froze.

The others froze as well, slowly realizing what was happening. Mandarin gulped, knowing what was happening.

"Gibson?" He asked, not looking at Gibson.

"Y-yes?" Gibson replied, hands shaking.

"Do you have the bed set up and the instructions I gave you studied?" Mandarin asked.

Gibson nodded as Mandarin winced.

"G-good, b-because I think you're going to have to use those right now." Mandarin said before letting out a small yell of pain.

Chaos struck the robot.

* * *

Aaaaaand shit is going down! Thanks for reading!


	22. Chapter 22

Ok I have a good reason for not updating for a few weeks. I have been busy as hell with college classes ending and I had so many projects thrown at me that I couldn't get to editing. Not only physically but mentally. So to make up for a lack of updates I will update again later in the week! Mostly because I'm free for the whole week before I have to go start my internship. Now hopefully things will get better here so please enjoy!

* * *

Angela darted into her room and breathed heavily. He was wrong, that bone bag was wrong! He had to be! Right? The yellow monkey collapsed on her bed and took her prosthetic leg off and sighed.

 _"Now wait I wasn't finished talking to you yet."_

Angela clutched her head, now hearing Skeleton King's chilling voice. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Wha-?!"

 _"Don't be frightened of me dear, I only wish to help you."_ Skeleton King said.

"Like you 'helped' my mother?" Angela growled.

 _"I only did those things because that's what I rebuilt him for! To not only destroy but to create. To create you."_ Skeleton King pointed out.

Angela gripped her bed sheets, that was true. Why else would she be born? Still, so many thoughts were conflicting in her head.

 _"And I know you feel that you are just a number in a large army, but that certainly isn't the case."_ Skeleton King said soothingly.

"W-what do you mean?" She asked.

 _"Each of you were born for a specific purpose, a unique job that only one of you can do. Your eldest sister Artemis is the temporary leader while one of your sisters Janice is in charge of science."_ Skeleton King explained.

Angela sat up, now that was interesting!

"What about me?" She asked, slowly smiling.

Skeleton King chuckled, knowing she was slowly becoming his.

 _"Well Artemis is a decent leader and all, but it's clear that she isn't up to the task. You on the other hand should be in charge, you already have experience."_ He said.

Angela shifted uncomfortably in her seat and bit the inside of her cheek. That does sound appealing.

 _"Think about it, you would be trusted to lead your family to glory and live in peace. You would finally belong."_ He said.

Angela was silent, mulling over it all.

"Would...would my younger siblings be apart of it too?"

 _"Of course!"_

"And my mom?"

Skeleton King was silent.

 _"I will...think about that...right now he cannot be trusted at my side yet. Yet I will allow you to see him now and again."_

Angela held one of her legs.

"What about me not-"

 _"Do not worry about that my child, I will help with that when you come here. Now how we're going to do that takes a bit of planning..."_

Angela laid back and listened to his plan, her thoughts conflicting. A part of her was screaming not to join him, but the part that wants to was already winning.

* * *

Mandarin was laid onto a large bed, while grimacing in pain.

"Suupa is getting the medication for the c-section now. Do you want the anesthesia?" Gibson asked, a little too calm for Mandarin's liking.

The orange monkey shakily nodded before continuing to grimace in pain.

Otto place a hand on Mandarin's arm and clung to him.

"Don't worry Mandy, it's gonna be fine." He said softly.

Mandarin placed a hand on his head.

"It's too soon!" He groaned.

Otto looked towards Gibson and twiddled with his fingers and he pursed his lips.

"Are they gonna be okay? It's four weeks early..." His voice trailed off.

Gibson looked at the screens, frowning.

"I think they'll be okay but then again I'm not sure."

"How can you not be sure?!" Mandarin snapped before letting out a small whine.

Gibson sighed, his patience testing him. He turned back to Mandarin.

"Because you just went into labor, we'll have to keep an eye on them in case something happens." He explained.

Mandarin was still for a moment, thinking about what Gibson said, before he placed his hands on his face.

"This is all my fault." He lamented.

Otto quickly shook his head and placed a hand on his arm.

"No Mandy-!"

"Mandarin this was all Skeleton King's fault! He was the one who caused you go into a panic attack." Gibson argued.

Mandarin dropped his hands a bit, his chin quivering.

"But if I wasn't so weak I wouldn't have gone into that panic attack in the first place. If I was like how I used to be-" Mandarin said before a voice interrupted him.

"If you were like how you used to be you would be trying to hurt us."

Mandarin like looked down at Antauri as Otto jumped onto the bed, a serious look on the silver monkeys face. When did he get in?

"Mandarin think about it. You were evil and on Skeleton King's side, you would have already had the kids with him and all ready to fight. You would try to hurt us at every chance you get. If you were like how you were when you were our leader maybe you would have been a bit better...but I believe that you still would have been less kinder than you are now." Antauri said softly, giving his 'brother' a comforting smile.

Otto climbed up on Mandarin's arms despite Gibson's pleas to get off. He laid a small kiss on Mandarin's lips.

"And you aren't weak. You've just had bad things happen to you and it affected you. Besides who would've been so brave enough to keep bringing the kids to us, even though you would have gotten caught?" Otto pointed out, making small circles on Mandarin's chest with his finger.

Mandarin looked down and sighed.

"I still feel so guilty." He murmured.

Otto kissed his cheek and patted his head.

"Don't blame yourself Mandarin. Just focus on getting through the labor. I'll let you know when the medicine arrives. " Gibson said before walking out, giving him space.

Antauri nodded and looked up at Mandarin.

"Do you need anything?" He asked.

"A gallon of water." Mandarin sighed.

"A gallon?" Antauri asked for clarification.

"Either that or ice chips." Mandarin sighed.

Antauri shook his head slightly but nodded and went off. Otto stroked Mandarin's face.

"Don't worry Mandarin, the babies are gonna be fine." He assured him.

Mandarin nodded slightly, feeling a bit better.

* * *

Penny yawned as she just woke up from her afternoon nap. She didn't hear all the yelling and chaos that came up from upstairs. She stretched as she was walking towards the kitchen, a small smile on her face. Then she saw Antauri come out with a gallon of water and some ice chips. With curiosity taking over, Penny smiled and ran up to him.

"Hi Tauri! What'cha got there?" She asked, looking closely at the items Antauri was carrying.

Antauri froze for a second before looking at her.

"Ice chips and water." He answered simply.

Penny peeked into the bag of ice chips.

"Cool, but that's a lot of water. You throwing a party?" She asked, looking up at him.

Antauri quickly thought of an explanation.

"Not at all, listen your brother and sister are ready to arrive and-"

"They're coming?!" Penny asked excitedly before her smile dropped.

"Kinda early isn't it?" She asked, scratching her head.

Antauri nodded nervously.

"Yes but-"

"I wanna go see mommy!" Penny said before running off.

"Penny!"

Penny ran into the room where Mandarin was in and skidded to a stop when she saw how much pain he was in. He whined a bit before resting back.

"You know Mandarin you're taking this awfully well." Sprx said, sipping his drink.

Mandarin weakly smirked.

"Well when you have had as many pregnancies as I have, labor pains becomes a slight cramp." He said, exaggerating the last part a bit because this still hurt.

It hurt like hell.

Violet, who came in minutes later after Antauri left, snickered as she leaned over the bed.

"Then guess who is never getting pregnant?" She said before pointing to herself.

"This girl." She sung, making Mandarin laugh.

Penny ran up to Mandarin's side. Trying to cover her concern, she smiled her usual Penny smile and hopped in place a bit.

"Hi mommy! I heard my baby brother and sister are coming, but it's really early isn't it?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Only by about four weeks." Violet brought up.

Mandarin froze, not taking his eyes of Penny. He looked away.

"A bit yes." He murmured.

Penny frowned and looked around the room. Everyone looked so serious, which made sense but more than usual. That and her mother's reaction didn't really help settle her suspicions.

"What's going on?" She asked, eyeing the others.

"What do you mean kid?" Sprx asked.

Penny crossed her arms and tilted her head again.

"It's tense and angry in here. Why?" She asked slowly.

Otto shook his head and patted her head.

"It's nothing Pen, don't worry."

That struck a nerve. Penny frowned at Otto.

"It doesn't seem like nothing! The babies are coming four weeks early and everyone's acting funny, what happened while I was napping?" Penny asked.

"Penny nothing happened, now just go play with your toys while we wait for-" Sprx began but Penny stomped her foot.

"Don't lie to me! I'm not Roland!" She shouted, catching the others off guard.

Tears stung the light orange monkey's eyes.

"I'm not like him, I don't do that thing where every time something bad happens it makes me into an angry troubled kid or whatever Gibson keeps saying. I want to help, I want to understand what's going on." She said,sniffling.

"Penny." Violet said softly, her eyes growing sad.

Penny wiped her face with her arm. She was just so frustrated! Not knowing what was going on because she was only four was so frustrating to her, she deserves to know what's going on.

"So stop trying to hide things from me. I already know about the labs and what Skelly wants to do with my older brothers and sisters and I'm still me...right?" She asked, placing a hand on her chest.

Otto and Sprx looked at each other.

"Skeleton King came onto the screen." Mandarin finally said, not looking at Penny.

Penny froze but took one step back, eyes filled with horror.

"Wh-what?" She asked.

"Mandarin!" Sprx hissed.

"And he scared mom so...so that's what probably why the babies are coming a bit early." Violet said.

"Violet!" Sprx hissed.

Penny fearfully looked up at Mandarin. So that's why Mandarin was in labor and why he looked so shaken up. That's why everyone was more serious than usual! She felt so bad for her mother, he didn't deserve this.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly, climbing up on the bed.

Mandarin nodded and held her up.

"I am now." He said as Penny dug her face below his head.

"That's good, I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for. Skeleton King tried to break me into submission, to crawl back to him." Mandarin explained before pausing.

"However I guess in the end he didn't get what he wanted. I'm still here, and I am never going back to him." He said.

Penny smiled and nuzzled him.

"Good, cause I'd be lonely without you here." She chirped before sticking her tongue out playfully.

This child!

"Wow you kids are way too mature for your ages." Sprx said softly.

"Well given the circumstances can ya blame us?" Violet asked, making Penny giggle.

"Yeah...kinda sucky because you kids should be kids...not having all this crap being thrown at you." Sprx said bitterly.

He hated that. These kids should be having their innocence still intact, more worried about regular kid things. Not worrying about whether their mother will be able to get out of bed or if Skeleton king will win the war.

Otto's face drooped as he walked over and wrapped an arm around him.

"Unfortunately Sprx it can't be helped, given the circumstances all of us are in. The least we can do is to make sure they turn out happy and safe." Mandarin affirmed.

"Yeah...still doesn't make it less crappy you know?" Sprx lamented.

Violet immediately hugged him and scoffed.

"Hey don't worry about me and Penny. We'll turn out fine. Roland is the one ya gotta worry about." She joked before Sprx ruffled her head.

"Hey come on now." Sprx teased.

"Yeah Rolly's not gonna end up in prism!" Penny argued.

"Prison, Penny." Otto said, correcting her.

"Oh."

Mandarin smiled before another contraction hit, causing him to lean over and grimace. Penny jumped a bit and looked at him.

"Mommy?" She asked.

"Penny, I'm sorry but can you please get off?" Mandarin asked, causing Penny to nod and hop off.

"Don't worry Mandy, it'll be over soon." Otto said, rubbing his arm.

"Don't count on it." Mandarin huffed.

* * *

Hours later the medicines had arrived and everyone was waiting in the underground base given the med bay was too small for Mandarin.  
Otto planted himself in the recliner chair, staring into his hands worriedly. He hated this, he wasn't even allowed to be in the surgery room with him! He gently bit on his thumb and sighed.  
It's been a while now. Penny was already asleep as Maurice was livid. How dare Skeleton King threaten his mother?! How dare he?! He growled and clenched his fists.

Kuzon touched his arm and lead him over to one of his easels, trying to get him to pain out his anger. Roland left his temper tantrum room and sighed, his past anger now dissipated.

"So...how is he?" He asked, licking his lips.

"We're still waiting kiddo, here come play with Erin." Nova said, patting the seat on the floor next to her.

Erin babbled loudly and waved at Roland.

"Ro!" Erin babbled with a huge grin on his face.

"Jeez your vocabulary is getting bigger and bigger." Roland snickered before sitting next to him.

Chiro smiled before looking at Antauri.

"Have you tried to talk to Angela?" He asked.

"I tried to, but when I came down to see her she was already asleep" Antauri explained.

Chiro sighed, having a bad feeling about all of this.

"She must be exhausted, either way we need to see if she's okay when she wakes up." He said.

Antauri agreed as he looked over at the others. Gibson came down the tube and stumbled out.

"Gibson!" Otto exclaimed as the others rushed over to him.

"How was-?" Antauri began to ask but Gibson wheezed.

"How do the robots do this?! Mandarin is so massive and- never mind, the twins are being checked over and we just finished stitching Mandarin back up. Which was a very hard task mind you." He huffed, wiping his forehead with a cloth.

Penny then started to wake up but then rolled off the couch. She quickly got up.

"Babies...are they here?" She asked tiredly.

Gibson nodded and leaned over to see her.

"Do you want to see them?" He asked.

Penny quickly nodded and ran past him, with Otto close behind.

"Wait for us first!" Gibson yelled after the two as everyone started going upstairs.

Nova went into Angela's room and tapped her arm. Angela stirred before sitting up.

"Yeah?" She asked before yawning.

"The twins are here, you wanna see them?" Nova asked softly.

Angela's eyes widened.

"Mom already went into labor?" She asked.

Nova nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, but he's fine and they're checking over the twins." She said.

Angela gripped the bedsheets and looked down.

"That's...never mind can I see them?"

"Of course you can, that's why I got you up!" Nova laughed as she handed Angela her other leg.  
-

When the others got back into the command center, they noticed one part of the command center had a huge curtain blocking it off. Assuming that behind the curtain was Mandarin resting, they just left it alone for now.

"The male twin just had a bit of trouble keeping his body heat maintained but other then that they're both fine." Suupa said to the team as he was getting ready to leave.

"Mandarins also still asleep so he'll be out for quite a while." Gibson said as he walked with them.

The others sighed in relief as Jinmay came out with a small bundle. They saw a black arm trying to swipe at her face. Before Suupa could even get to the door he was suddenly stopped by Gibson. Gibson placed a hand on his arm and smiled a bit, not wanting to see him go yet.

"You don't have to leave right away, you can hold them if you want." He said to the blue frog.

Suupa quickly shook his head and held up his hands.

"Oh no I don't want to impose, this is a family moment." He said, chuckling nervously.

Gibson frowned and got behind him and began pushing on his back.

"W-wait!"

"You're family too, you have every right to be here." Gibson huffed before they made it to the others, who were waiting.

"Who wants to hold her?" Jinmay asked softly.

Otto quickly raised his arms, his face indicated that he wanted to see them. He wanted to see them now.

"Me." He breathed.

Nova nodded and rested her head on her hand.

"Makes sense I mean, you have been kind of like an expectant father for the past nine months." She teased.

Otto's cheeks turned a bright red as he scratched his chin.

"Aw come on I have not." He said sheepishly.

"Yes you have! Don't deny it!" Sprx exclaimed, causing Gibson to shush him.

Jinmay walked over to him and set the bundle into his arms. Otto looked down at the small black furred infant. She tried to grab for Otto's face as a big smile grew on his face. His heart swelled with love as he looked down at the newborn. Mandarin created this, he created this small tiny creature with his body alone. Otto then realized how strong Mandarin really was and how he himself could never imagine how he would act if he was in Mandarin's situation. Especially with all of the mental illnesses that accumulated from said situation. Even so to Otto, Mandarin was one of the strongest people he's ever known and he loves him so much.

"Hi sweetie." He said softly, brushing a finger against her face.

The baby blinked and yawned.

"Did Mandarin write down a name for her?" Chiro asked.

Gibson looked around.

"I didn't see him write anything down." He said.

Otto looked back down at the baby.

"Well then how about we call you 'squishy' for now? Do you like that cutie pie?" He asked, making his voice sound goofy.

'Squishy' just stared at him before trying to grab his face again.

Jinmay then perked up as she heard a small cry coming from the room and rushed back in. She later came back out with another bundle.

"I guess he woke up and saw that no one was around!" She laughed before Otto handed 'Squishy' off to Antauri.

He held the other black furred monkey as he sniffled. His facial structure was different than that of his sisters, having more rounded eyes and a smaller snout.

"Hi cutie." He said softly as Penny sat next to him.

"He's tiny!" Penny said softly, do that the baby monkey won't get scared.

"They're babies, they're gonna be tiny." Otto said before letting the baby hold onto his finger.

Penny blinked before smiling at the baby.

"Hi tiny, I'm Penny." She said, shaking his hand a bit with her finger.

The baby's sniffling and whining soon settled as his twin cooed loudly when she was set in Violet's arms.

"Ha! She already likes me." Violet smirked, making Roland roll his eyes.

Nova held back a laugh as Sprx held up Erin.

"Erin meet your baby sister." He said as he sat next to Violet.

Erin's eyes widened in surprise before trying to reach for her. Sprx set him down next to Violet as she showed 'Squishy' to him. Erin took her hand and stared at her before smiling widely.

"Be!" He said, pointing to her.

'Squishy' blinked before cooing a bit.

"I think he likes her already." Sprx whispered to Nova.

"Gee what makes you say that?" Nova scoffed with a smirk.

There was a long and comfortable silence as everyone got to meet the new babies before heading off to bed, given that it was nearly three am.

Otto was the only one left in the room, holding onto 'Squishy' as her brother was fast asleep. Squishy started whining.

"You hungry Squishy? Hang on I'll get ya a bottle." He said before getting up.

As he made her a bottle and started feeding her, he heard some grumbling from behind the curtain. Otto quickly looked over before going and peeking through the curtain. Mandarin slowly sat up, wincing slightly from feeling sore. Otto smiled widely, happiness filling his every being.

"Hi Mandy." He greeted, walking up to him.

Mandarin rubbed his eye with his finger.

"Hello...wait! Where's-?!" He began to panic before he saw the small bundle in Otto's arms.

He was quiet before asking, "Are-are they-?"

Otto nodded.

"Yup they're fine, the little guy had a bit of trouble with his body heat but they're both healthy. You wanna see for yourself?" Otto asked, holding up 'Squishy'.

Mandarin looked at his hands and held them up.

"But my hands are too large-"

"Don't worry I got this." He said before getting onto the bed.

Otto then looked towards the nightstand next to the bed. It was up to Mandarin's height so that he could grab things from there easier and was closer to him. Perfect. Otto smiled and climbed up there, being careful of the newborn, whose eyes were widened in shock and curiosity.

"Otto!" Mandarin hissed, worriedly.

"Don't worry I got this." Otto said before sitting on the nightstand and held out 'Squishy'.

"I know, but seeing someone climb up dangerous heights with my newborn child nearly gives me-" Mandarin's complaints then stopped when he saw her.

The black furred monkey looked up at her mother and cooed lightly, recognizing his voice right away.

"Here ya go sweetie, here's mommy." Otto said softly.

Mandarin's heart swelled as he brushed a finger against the small one's cheek. 'Squishy' looked at the finger before grabbing it. Mandarin's breath caught as the small infant held onto it and kept staring at it before looking at him.

"Hi..." He breathed, feeling tears stinging his eyes

She was so perfect.

The baby just stared at him before trying to grab for his face.

"She's been doing that to a lot of people." Otto snickered as Mandarin stroked her cheek.

Mandarin smiled, not taking his eyes off his child. It was a small moment of silence before they heard the other twin's cries. Otto quickly looked around before he saw one of the incubators that he got 'Squishy' out of.

"Hang on I'll be right back, I'll leave her right here." He said before hopping off and placing the baby in the incubator.

He then pulled it next to Mandarin and went to grab the other twin.

Mandarin watched him leave before looking back down at the infant. She still kept looking up at him, cooing every now and then. Mandarin smiled, this was one of the few moments of happiness he would experience after each child was born. Otto then came back with the second incubator, where the other child cried.

"He doesn't like to be left alone." Otto wheezed before picking him up.

"Aww poor him." Mandarin said sadly as Otto climbed back up on the nightstand.

The baby sniffled and whined before looking at his mother, only seeing shapes and colors given his limited new eyesight. His sniffles then slowed when he felt Mandarin's large finger brush up against his cheek.

"It's okay tiny, mommy's here to see you. You've been wanting to see him have you?" Otto asked before a thought came into his mind.

"Uh so what are you gonna name them?" Otto asked.

Mandarin looked down at the two and were...two names he had in mind.

"Actually what I had in mind are the names Melody and Mason." He said.

"Melody and Mason..." Otto repeated before looking down at them.

He smiled and looked back up at Mandarin.

"Any meaning behind them?" He asked.

Mandarin shook his head.

"No, they just sound really nice and I like them." He said simply.

Otto nodded and looked down at Mason, who's sniffling stopped as Melody yawned a bit.

This was perfect.

* * *

Skelemandarin watched the scene from the castle in disgust. There was just so much love and cheer he hated it!

"Pheh! How pathetic." He scoffed before Skeleton King chuckled.

"Not at all, it gives them a false sense of safety. As if nothing can go wrong." He said with a smirl.

Skelemandarin scoffed but turned around from the mist that was projecting what was happening.

"Well they'll be in for a huge surprise once we unleash project Titan. How is it going my lord?" Skelemandarin asked.

Skeleton King also turned around and looked upon a huge tube like structure.

"It is going quite well, our little friend is certainly proving to be very helpful." Skeleton King said chillingly.

Skelemandarin nodded before looking at the mist again. A sudden worry came into mind as he watched his original self interact with the new infants. There was a mix of emotions flowing through the clone, a mix of emotions that he did not want to think about.

His master must have noticed this because he said, "Are you troubled by the fact that you could end up like him?"

Skelemandarin jumped and quickly shook his head.

"N-no! Not at all!" He denied.

Skeleton King chuckled and patted his head.

"Not to worry, I already have someone in mind to use for the labs if we are unable to obtain your original." He stated.

Skelemandarin almost sighed in relief hearing that, but then he perked up his head.

"Wait, who my lord?" He asked.

Skeleton King turned away from him.

"That's not important at the moment. Right now we should be prepping for battle and for when our young friend arrives. You should be getting Maximus to create her new armor, get to it quickly!" Skeleton King ordered.

"Yes my lord!" Skelemandarin said before running off.

His running then slowed after a while, still thinking. He felt a weird tingling sensation in the back of his head, almost something telling him that this isn't what he should be doing. But why? Why was this sensation happening? Was this really not what he was supposed to be doing? Was he meant for something else? Skelemandarin quickly shook that off as he ran down the corridor, trying to forget those thoughts. At least for now.

* * *

Hmmm who does Skeleton King have in mind? And will this conflict with Skelemandarin be brought up again? Well no...but it will be brought up again at some point in the sequel of this fic...and maybe Heavy Rotation...maybe. Thanks for reading!


	23. Chapter 23

Welp like I said, I'd update sometime later this week. And now boom! New chapter! Ok let's see how the team is holding up with these new babies and see how things go from there!

* * *

Mason's cries woke those who were using the baby monitors for the week up. Mandarin quickly sat up and began to get up before he felt Otto grab his arm.

"No Mandy, Sprx's got this." Otto muttered, still sleepy.

Mandarin shook his head and looked towards the door.

"No I should get him this time." He said, getting up.

Otto hopped up on him and rested his hands on Mandarin's face.

"You've been getting them for the past few nights, let the others handle them." Otto yawned.

"But I'm their mother-!"

Otto kissed him and nuzzled his cheek.

"Mandarin, you need sleep. I know you want to be there for them but...but...just go sleep." Otto said, forgetting what he was trying to say.

Mandarin sighed and laid back down. He just wanted to take care of his babies, is that so wrong? He appreciates the help but they're still his children.

"Go to sleep cutie, we got places to go today." Otto said, curling up next to him.

Mandarin sighed but nodded.

"Okay." He said before turning over and falling back to sleep.

Meanwhile in Angela's room, the young monkey felt shaky and nervous. She shakily sighed and looked at her prosthetic leg.

 _"Are you...are you sure this will work?"_ She telepathically asked Skeleton King.

 _"Of course it will, just wait for Reid's signal and do what you must. If we have to, we'll have you retreat with them."_ Skeleton King assured her.

Angela sighed shakily and nodded.

 _"They're gonna hate me..."_

 _"Maybe so, but one day they'll see the light. They'll understand why you joined us."_

Angela pursed her lips and nodded. Hopefully.

 _"Now rest dear child. You have a big day to look foreword to."_ Skeleton King told her.

Angela nodded and got back under the covers. Today will be the walk through the threshold.

* * *

Mandarin looked over the wall and down to the city streets. They were on top of the arcade building and checking over some of the guns and sticky bullets the allies will be using.

"Cool!" Violet gasped, picking up one of the guns.

"Violet don't touch them. Now all of you must go downstairs while we set everything up." Antauri ordered.

Violet nodded and ran off downstairs. Antauri then noticed Roland messing with something in his bag.

"Roland."

Roland looked up.

"What is it that you brought?" Antauri asked.

"Uhh toys." Roland said slowly, eyeing the side.

Antauri crossed his arms and stared hard at him. Roland looked of to the side and hummed.

"Oh look! The space raiders game!" He said before running downstairs.

"Roland!" Antauri called after him but sighed.

It was the twins first day out and so far the day has been going well. For the most part. Antauri sensed something was off, almost tense.

"Angela, aren't you gonna go downstairs and play with the others? The adults are gonna have a long boring talk." Jinmay said.

Angela looked up at her and shook her head.

"Oh I'll be down in a bit, I just wanna play with Mel-Mel a bit more." She cooed, playing with Melody's hands.

Melody cooed. Mandarin smiled before looking back out at the scenery. He saw the tip of the castle not too far away and his smile dropped. He suddenly felt a hand on his arm as he looked down at Chiro.

"Don't worry, we'll get them." He said, with a assuring smile.

Mandarin paused before nodding slightly. The two stared out at the castle for a second.

"You know, it's hard to believe that a few years ago you were about to destroy me." Chiro said with a small laugh.

Mandarin smirked, not looking at him.

"It's also had to believe that around this time that many years ago I had no idea of what Skeleton King was going to do. Or that I would be a mother but I guess fate had other plans."

Chiro nodded before they heard whining.

"Mandarin, your goofy son dropped his caterpillar!" Sprx called out as Erin whined as he tried to grab for his toy.

"Can't you get it?" Nova asked before she saw the amount of tools he had in his arms.

"Oh never mind."

Mandarin went over to Erin and picked his toy up.

"There you go, better?"

Erin smiled and nodded before grabbing the stuffed caterpillar.

He then heard gunshots. Mandarin turned to see the team were stuck in growing pink gunk before he felt heavy chains wrap around him and pull him to his knees. The three infants started crying as Mandarin looked over at who was holding him.

"Well! That was easier than I thought!" Reid, the yellow monkey with green eyes said as Artemis stood next to him.

She looked away, not wanting to look at Mandarin in the face. Mandarin's mind then clicked as he looked over at Angela, who held up one of the guns. She had tears flowing down her eyes as she choked back a sob.

"A-Angela?" Mandarin breathed, his stomach sinking.

"If we were created by Skeleton King...then we have no choice but to follow him!" Angela yelled, more tears falling.

Mandarin started to struggle against the chains, despite Reid's tight grip.

"Both me, and you!" Angela shuddered, holding up the gun.

Mandarin tried to activate his sword but now of all times was it starting to jam. Antauri struggled against the gunk.

"Angela don't do this!" He called out.

"Yeah Angela, think about what you're doing!" Chiro yelled worriedly.

Reid smirked.

"It's too late for her now, she's already ours. Come on Angela, gunk him up so we can stop by the labs." He said, making Mandarin's stomach churn and have him break out into a cold sweat.

Artemis got in front of Reid.

"Or! We could bring him back to the castle and convince Skeleton King to have him work with us!" She offered, causing Reid to give her a 'you gotta be kidding me' look.

"Are you insane?! He's supposed to go to the labs Artemis. That's his purpose."

Artemis glared and pointed at him.

"I will not have this conversation with you guys again!" She shouted.

Mandarin's eyes trailed back to Angela as the team tried to talk her down.

"Angela don't do this!"

"Come on kid don't listen to them!"

"It's okay sweetie, you're not meant to fight for Skeleton King!"

"Angela don't..." Mandarin said softly,

Angela's eyes softened, but for only a moment as she held up the gun and glared.

"It's...it's what I was born for." She growled before pulling the trigger.

As the gunk flew at Mandarin, it was stopped by a blue shield. Roland held up the shield before realizing who was holding the gun.

"Angela? What are you doing?!" He demanded.

Angela stepped back and her eyes widened.

"What am I doing? What are you doing?!" She asked.

"Protecting **our** mom what do you think I'm doing?!" Roland growled.

Angela froze up a bit before she shook her head.

"Never mind, get out of the way Roland. This needs to be done." She said, taking a step closer.

Anger boiled inside Roland as he held the shield out in front of him.

"Angela don't do anything stupid or I will have to fight you." He said, glaring.

A sudden voice caught him off guard.

"You little brat, know your place!" Reid snapped before transforming his hand into a plasma cannon and started to fire at him until something deflected his attacks.

Antauri in his ghost mode stood in a lowered position before standing upright, the chains holding Mandarin in one hand.

"You will not lay a finger on any of them." He harshly said before cutting the chains.

Reid flinched back before he heard some noises. He turned to see Gibson freeing himself with the antidote to the gunk as he went to free everyone else.

"Give it up you three, you're out numbered." Chiro said as Gibson freed him.

Artemis and Reid took a fighting stance as the team circled them, willing to take their chances.

Roland glared at Angela as she looked around nervously before gripping the gun and turning towards him. Her eyes suddenly turned cold.

"I'm only doing this because it's my purpose." Angela said walking towards him.

Roland gritted his teeth and activated the energy sword.

"You're a real idiot if you believe that!" He growled.

"Roland hold on-!" Mandarin said, about to talk Angela down when he heard loud whooshing noises.

The others turn to see Skeleton King's winged beast rise from the ground and a light blue monkey with yellow eyes was riding it.

"Guys come on! Master wants us to retreat!" He yelled.

"Are you serious?! After all the planning he gave us?!" Artemis exclaimed in shock.

"He says that we've done what we needed to do, now we need to go back and prepare for battle! Besides it's too risky with just the three of you!" The light blue monkey shouted before wobbling a bit.

"How does he control this thing?!" He whined.

Reid looked to Artemis, who closed her eyes for a moment then turned to Angela.

"It's your call." She said.

Angela froze up at the amount of responsibility she was given. She then looked at the blue monkey.

"Let's go." She said before the three broke into a sprint.

"Don't let them get away!" Chiro commanded as the team rushed behind them.

Reid was the first to get on, then he pulled Angela up, but as Artemis was beginning to get up she felt Sprx grab her leg. She turned and growled.

"Get off me!" She yelled, kicking him off.

"Sprx!" Nova yelled as she ran to him.

The beast then took off towards the castle. Angela looked back before looking ahead, a mix of emotions flowing through her. Mandarin felt sick as he watched them fly away, frozen.

The cries of his babies snapped him out of his stupor as Jinmay and Otto tried to settle them down. He went over to them and placed his finger on Erin's cheek, trying to calm him down.

"It's ok, you're safe now." He said to the three softly, though he was unsure how true those words were now.

Roland still stood in his spot, growling and looking down at the floor. He slammed his fist against the wall.

"Angela, that idiot! What was she thinking joining bone bag and thinking that's what she's supposed to do?" He growled, shaking.

He gritted his teeth as his eyes softened.

"Darn and just when things were looking up too." He choked.

He then felt himself being pulled in by Mandarin's energy tail. Roland was startled but that settled as the bulky leaned down to him and pulled him in an embrace.

"We'll get Angela back. Skeleton King has seduced her to join him, so don't blame her." Mandarin explained to him.

Roland looked off to the side, still angry.

"Ro..."

He turned to a teary Erin, who was holding out his arms to him. Roland's anger went away as he sighed.

"C'mere bro." He said, taking Erin from Otto and holding him close.

Erin's attention was then placed on Roland's gloves and he patted them.

"Weeh!" Mason whined as Melody's cries were settled as she stared at Mandarin in tears.

She reached her hand towards Mandarin. He took it with two of his fingers.

Chiro watched as the beast grew smaller and smaller in the distance.

"We should have known this would happen. We should have talked to her." He muttered.

Antauri placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself Chiro. If Skeleton King had not intervened, Mandarin would have finally put her insecurities to rest. However we cannot worry over our mistakes now, we need to regroup and prepare ourselves." He said.

Chiro nodded and looked towards the others. They all nodded in agreement, they all had a fight coming up.

By now the other kids came up and looked towards the team.

"Guys...wh-what happened? Where's Angela?" Penny asked.

The team turned to them. The gun that Angela held before was still on the ground.

* * *

Oscar felt sick watching that. The cameras that he hacked into, just to check things around the city, just showed him what just happened with the team.

"I never thought that...that Angela would end up..." 84 muttered.

Oscar kept looking at the screen, watching the team talk to the kids about what happened.

"You saw what happened when she and Penny came down here. I guess those worries finally overwhelmed her." He sighed before hearing loud banging.

He switched over to the lab cameras and saw that the robots were storming right towards him.

"Os-Oscar they're coming!" 84 exclaimed, taking one step back away from the door.

Oscar quickly began typing on the computer, a confident smile on his face.

"Don't worry I got this." He said before realizing that the computer locked him out of the robot systems settings.

"What the hell?!"

84 flinched back in realization.

"They must have changed those settings while you were asleep." He said soflty.

Oscar felt cold as he heard angry voices getting closer. If they find him and 84 here, who knows what they'll do to them.

"Oscar what do we do?! I can't take all of them by myself!" 84 sputtered.

Oscar closed his eyes, an idea forming.

"You don't have to." He said, causing 84 to turn to him in confusion.

Oscar stayed still for a moment before giving 84 a serious look.

"Pretend to capture me and lock me away. When they go out to get Mandarin you have to get me out and change the settings. They'll trust you more than me." He explained.

84 shook, worried.

"B-but what if...?"

"There's no time! Just do what you can and we'll figure out the rest from there." Oscar told him.

84 thought about it but nodded.

The leader of the robots tore down the door but was surprised to see 84 drag Oscar by the arm.

"You little conniving brat! Thinking you can keep this up for the rest of your insignificant life! Well you should have known better than to try to overtake us!" 84 snapped.

"Oh cry me a river you bucket of bolts!" Oscar shouted before yelling in pain by the sudden tight grip.

"Sorry." 84 whispered.

The leader stepped back and blinked.

"Well done 84! You captured the one who's been overriding our systems!" He said.

84 nodded.

"No problem, I snuck up on him and found him trying to hack into our systems again. Thankfully though he won't be doing anymore of that." He said, holding up the purple monkey.

The leader nodded and wheeled a bit forward and held out a claw.

"We really appreciate what you've done, now hand him over to me and I'll deal with him myself." He said.

84 flinched back.

"Wait! Ma-maybe you should let me handle him. You know I was the one that caught him." He said, placing a claw on his 'hip'.

 _"Don't stumble man!"_ Oscar thought, side eyeing him.

One of the robots crossed his arms.

"I dunno, I say we dip him in acid!" He said.

"I say we burn him!" Another robot piped up.

"I say we have him watch one of those human soap operas for the rest of his life!"

Everyone turned to one robot in the back.

"What?" He asked.

The leader motioned towards 84.

"I think 84 is right. He caught him, so he should decide what to do." He said.

84 almost sighed in relief and looked down at Oscar.

"Well he's useless without the subject's wheelchair. I say we lock him up so that he never does this again." He said.

There was a outcry of defiance before Leader raised his claw.

"That will be manageable. Lock him in the subject's old room for now until we bring the subject back here." He said.

Oscar glared at him.

"You still want him back? The army is already made, might as well stop production." He said, testing him.

The Leader chuckled.

"Oh no subject Os-12, production will always continue. That no good waste of space has no other reason to live other than give Skeleton King a well deserved army." He said, making Oscar's blood boil.

The Leader leaned into Oscar's face very closely. If he could smile, he would have a sickening grin.

"You think it's gonna stop once we take over Shuggazoom? Oh no once it's conquered, Skeleton King will send more soldiers to conquer the universe. Each solar system, each galaxy, all of it will be his! The subject will never leave us again." Leader said, venom dripping from every word.

"Over my dead body he will." Oscar growled, eyes full of fire.

Leader scoffed and stood up right.

"Empty threats from an empty monkey. 84, lock him away." He ordered, causing 84 to nod and take Oscar off.

84 got to the huge door and tapped a few numbers on the keypad, having the door unlock and open. Oscar was then set on the bed.

"Don't worry, I'll be back." 84 whispered before leaving.

Oscar laid on his side and closed his eyes, hoping that time comes soon.

* * *

Ho shit, this ain't good! What does Skeleton king have planned? find out in the next update! Thank you for reading!


	24. Chapter 24

Welcome back! Not much else to say here...please enjoy!

* * *

Skelemandarin looked over the Formless being made. A sense of pride and self importance came over him as he smirked. The previous feelings of whether or not he should be doing the things he's doing were gone for the time being. Finally, now he can focus on the more important things. Like finishing off that hairless monkey and taking over Shugazoom with his master. He heard some footsteps approach him.

"The army is almost ready for tomorrow's invasion." A red robot monkey with pink eyes said, walking up next to him.

Skelemandarin turned and smiled.

"Good work Jessica. Now prepare your weapons." He ordered.

The one called Jessica nodded and ran off.

Skelemandarin kept staring at the Formless until he felt Skeleton King next to him.

"I take it Angela has arrived my lord?" He asked, not looking at him.

"And is already having her temporary robotic parts being placed in." Skeleton King said.

Skelemandarin looked up at her with a raised curious eyebrow.

"Temporary?"

Skeleton King nodded.

"Her body won't be able to handle the real robotization so until we speed up her age. So we have to make do with what we have for now." The dark lord explained.

Skelemandarin nodded in understanding before sighing.

"Finally it will be over, we will win." He said with a evil grin.

"Don't be so sure Mandarin. We must make sure that those filthy primates are destroyed, The other children become ours, your original counterpart imprisoned again, and the boy brought to me. That is why we have project Titan after all."

Skelemandarin turned to look up at him.

"Good thing we do, I would be a bit worried if we didn't."

Skeleton King patted his head.

"No need to worry, one way or another the boy will be ours." He said before chuckling.

"My lord." Maximus's voice said from behind them.

The two turned to him, expecting Maximus with some sort of news. The dark blue monkey smiled and motioned behind him.

"She is ready." He said as a figure walked from out of the shadows, revealing to be a auburn yellow robot monkey with blue eyes and black armor with a purple line going across the chest.

Her yellow prosthetic leg was replaced with a black metal leg.

Skeleton King grinned and walked over to her.

"Well Angela, I take it you're getting used to your new body?"

Angela felt her metal covered arms and almost shivered.

"It feels a little weird but I think I'll be okay." She said then paused.

"Actually there is one thing I need to ask of you." She said before getting on her knees, which was now much easier given her new leg.

"I know I shouldn't ask a lot since you have done so much for me already..." Angela started but sighed.

"But I'm afraid. I'm afraid that once I go out there, I will be too consumed by guilt and hesitation. I need something that will keep those emotions away. I don't want the hurt and fear in their eyes to stop me from doing what I must do. Help me, and I will finish what you've started." She said solemnly.

Skeleton King grinned, feeling pride from her words.

"I believe I have something that will help you." He said before pulling a microchip out.

"What is that master?" Maximus asked, getting on his tippy toes so he could see better.

Skeleton King leaned down to Angela and started to place the chip on her head. Angela's skin crawled from the process. Suddenly she wasn't so sure about this.

"Well it's like she said, she wants something that will keep her pesky emotions at bay. I figured I would assist in that." He said before snapping the chip in place.

Angela jumped a bit at the sudden surge of energy, then paused and sighed. Her kindness and compassion melted away and instead dark cold feelings of hate and cruelty were replaced. They gave her awful terrible ideas, ideas just on how to take over Shuggazoom. She smirked cruelly.

"That feels so much better, thank you my lord." She said, her tone of voice now changed as well.

Skeleton King grinned, now fully successful of making Anglea her servant. He stood back up and motioned towards the other side of the hall.

"I am glad. Now you must go to your siblings. They are in the middle of planning and I'm sure they need their leader." He said.

Angela smirked and nodded.

"Of course."

* * *

"I say we place all the humans on a technology deprived planet! That way they'd never come back!" Jessica said, slamming her fist against the wall for emphasis.

Jerica rolled her eyes at her brutish sister.

"Please, they'd find some way to get electricity and eons later they'll come back and fight our future children in the name of the old Shuggazoom. Humanity is annoying like that." She huffed before sipping pink lemonade.

Janice, the red robot monkey with orange eyes, bounced a bit in her seat.

"I dunno it sounds like something we would do if the humans did that to us." She chirped.

Jamie scoffed, rolling her yellow eyes.

"Yeah but we're obviously better. I mean we could probably get the technology much quicker than them."

"Still!"

Trixie scoffed as she laid lazily back against the wall.

"Please! I think we should just lock them up and make them our slaves. That way work could done much quicker." She said as her twin brother Cosmo was fiddling with a trinket.

Trixie turned to him and smiled.

"What do you think Cosy? Wouldn't that be nice?"

Cosmo turned to her and only nodded before going back to fiddling with the trinket.

Jerica stood up and pointed at Trixie accusingly.

"You just don't want to do any work! You'd rather lay around and not do anything!" She snapped as Trixie rolled her eyes and Cosmo sunk into his seat.

"Wouldn't that be the most ideal way of dealing with them? Enslaving and crushing their spirits?" Trixie asked, tilting her head with a smirk.

"Well..." Jerica scratched her head, unsure of any other ideas to counteract that.

A voice suddenly broke through them.

"No, there are better ways."

All of the monkeys turned to Angela and Maximus. The monkeys quickly lined up side by side. Angela blinked and frowned.

"Why are they lining up?" She asked.

"You're their leader now, so they have to respect you." Maximus whispered to her.

Angela turned to him and paused before grinning. Okay now this was nice!

"As they should, now as I was saying there are better ways of handling the humans. Both above and underground." She said, walking towards the group.

"Enslaving them could be a good option, but as history proves that they will just form a rebellion and overpower us." She explained, causing everyone to nod in agreement.

Cosmo tilted his head. Why do they want to enslave all the humans? What did they do wrong? Did they do something bad? Cosmo wanted to ask, but since he couldn't speak and didn't really have any other forms of communication he couldn't. Which was a shame as he had so many questions to ask!

"So what should we do captain?" Reid asked.

Angela coldly smirked.

"The only option we do have," She said as she got onto one of the larger rocks, overlooking the other.

"we wipe them all out!" She yelled.

Cosmo instantly felt sick as he heard his sibling cheer at the insane idea. Not just at the idea of wiping out a innocent race of people, but where it comes from! A child was saying all of this?! He fought the urge to shake his head as his baby sister kept talking.

"Think about it, they cower before lord Skeleton King's might, they don't even bother to fight back! Why? Because they know they'll lose!" Angela ranted, holding up her hand and making it into a fist.

"Yeah! They're scaredy cats!" Jubilee laughed.

Cosmo turned to her, shocked. Was this real?! Were they really that giddy over killing people?! That just made him even more sick! He thought they were just going to be guards to keep their Skeleton King safe! Not murder people! That's what Trixie told him!

"Their whole disgusting race is a curse. They're greedy awful beings, only wanting the finest and not caring about those suffering. They're only good as dead. So we should do something about it right?" Angela asked, her wicked smile growing bigger.

"Right!"

"So let's wipe the slate clean by sunset tomorrow and make a new world! A new world perfect for our lord and master Skeleton King!"

Everyone cheered as Cosmo could only stare, his mouth open a bit. Trixie noticed this and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay Cosy?" She asked, concerned.

Cosmo jumped but nodded a bit. Trixie smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Great! We're gonna need your poisonous claws for tomorrow." She said.

Cosmo only forced a smile. He wondered if he could do it, to kill innocent lives.

* * *

"The citizens must know where the subject is!" One of the robots said as the robots were gathered in a large room.

"He's with the Hyperforce, where else would he be?" Another asked.

Leader raised a claw.

"They still might leave him with the citizens or in a hiding place, 28. We need to make sure that we look everywhere." He said.

Oscar and 84 peeked out of Mandarin's old room, where the robots are in a few rooms down. They made 84 keep an eye on Oscar while they were planning.

"What are they saying?" 84 asked.

Oscar shushed him and kept listening.

"And if he isn't?" Another robot asked.

"Then we just destroy them. Just so that he won't be able to hide." Leader said, almost nonchalantly

The robots agreed on this while Oscar felt sick. Leader then chuckled darkly.

"Oh how those demons will regret forever taking our subject away! He's ours! Ours! We will not let a bunch of undesirable monkeys and a selfish greedy human take what's ours!" He snarled.

"You got that right!" One of the robot's voices rang out as the others agreed.

"Yeesh, you guys got a lot of emotion for robots- wait that came-!" Oscar said before a claw covered his mouth.

"It's in our programming! Now you shush!" 84 whispered.

The Leader composed himself again. He then pointed to the artillery room.

"So come tomorrow evening we will be fully charged and ready to take out subject back. We will need all our heavy artillery and upgrade our weapons. Then we need to beat the subject until he is too weak to rise! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" The robots yelled before they quickly got to work.

84 quickly pulled out a small device.

"Here! I swiped it from the infirmary." He whispered, handing it to him.

Oscar examined the device before realizing what it was.

"84-!" He began but 84 quickly began to leave.

Leader started to go over to Mandarin's old room, when 84 quickly left the room.

"And don't give me lip again! Or else!" He huffed as he slammed the door.

Leader blinked before sighing.

"He giving you trouble again? You know I can fix that-"

84 quickly shook his head.

"Nah, I think he gets the point now."

Leader nodded.

"Very well. Tomorrow evening you must keep an eye on the labs while we're getting the subject back. Who knows what that sneak will do." He explained.

84 felt himself nearly twitch before nodding.

"Will do sir."

Oscar blinked as he heard them leave before staring at the device. It was a tablet, where they check the information on the newborn infants. Oscar smiled. 84 gives him too much credit, he can get out of this room easily.

* * *

The day of battle came, and the team quickly began to prepare. Everyone's anxiety was at an all time high and they didn't have much time to spare.

"Now make sure none of them get in. That includes Angela." Chiro said to Neeketa, handing her a communicator.

Nikita nodded as Chiro went back up.

The kids sat in the living room, all worried and scared of what may happen. Roland meanwhile sat in his room on his bed, clutching his knees to his chest.

Chiro came back into the main room were the others were preparing.

"The allies are in position?" He asked Gibson.

"And ready for the invasion. The citizens are already making their way towards the bunkers." Gibson said, putting a few of the sticky bullets into his drill.

Mandarin then left one of the rooms where the weapons were. Chiro saw the orange monkey and walked up to him.

"Oh Mandarin, you should be downstairs with the-" but Mandarin cut him off.

"No I'm going." He said with a frown.

The others turned to him worriedly.

"Are...are you sure? Because..." Nova's voice trailed off.

Mandarin eyed her and crossed his arms.

"I will not let him terrify me anymore. My children are out there and I intend to bring them home." He said.

Otto smiled widely and jumped onto Mandarin's shoulder, nuzzling him.

"Then let's go bring them home, honey." Otto said, pulling back to face him.

Mandarin smiled and leaned his forehead against his.

Antauri had a small smile on his face until the scanner alerted them. They all looked at the screen as it showed the huge Formless army and the robot monkeys marching towards the city.

"They're already making their way into the city." Antauri said, glaring.

Chiro nodded and turned towards the others.

"Hyperforce go!"

* * *

Angela marched ahead of the others, clutching a blaster to her chest.

"Remember! No survivors!" She yelled back to them.

Cosmo gulped as everyone got out their weapons, including his dark green claws. He didn't want to do this, he really didn't. They made it into the city as they began to destroy everything in their path.

Meanwhile the bulky robots were right behind the Leader and his crew. The heavy artillery mechs were charging up and getting ready to take off.

"This is it, the morning of reckoning." Leader muttered before turning towards the others.

"Prepare to take back the subject! Leave no stone unturned or scathed!" He commanded.

"Yes sir!"

They rushed towards the hatch to leave, but was suddenly shocked by the amount of stairs there were.

It was silent before a robot said, "Maybe we shouldn't have put so many stairs."

"Probably." Leader sighed as they began to walk up, using their spider feet like appendages.

Shuggazoom will pay.

* * *

Roland clutched his knees as no doubt the team already left. He felt so distraught, he wanted to do something. Angela was being an total idiot right now and he was stuck here! The others could save her but who knows what will happen. Roland closed his eyes for a second before he looked over at the gloves and the shrunken down version of his mother's armor. He got up and put all of them on. The armor felt a bit loose but he didn't have time to worry about that. He grabbed one of the spare sticky guns and began to rush out when he heard cooing. He looked down at Erin in his playpen, standing up and holding onto the net like wall. Roland smiled and patted his head.

"Don't worry. I'll be right back." He whispered and began to walk towards the tube.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Roland turned to Maurice as he crossed his arms and frowned.

"Maurice I have to go. Angela's out there and-!"

"Hasn't it sunk in yet?!" Maurice snapped.

Roland stepped back at his sudden loud tone. Maurice stepped towards him, his eyes pleading Roland not to leave. He swallowed a lump in his throat before continuing.

"They kept telling you not to fight because we don't want to lose you! Don't you realize how much we would miss you if something happened?! You can't just go out fighting because Skeleton King-!" Maurice began before Roland stomped his foot.

"I know that!" Roland snapped.

Maurice was silent as the green monkey closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I know, that's why I'm not going out there to take down every single Formless. I want to find Angela and talk some sense into her, if I have to defend myself I will. But I am not going to fight them." Roland said.

Maurice was still silent, letting him continue. Roland placed a hand on his chest.

"I know how much you guys care about me, that's why the team has been protecting us this whole time. They're out there right now making sure the city will be a safer place for us and I know they'll do everything they can to bring Angela home." Roland went on before stepping forward.

"But I need to help her too! She might listen to me because she cares about me too, but the only way for me to help is if you let me go right now!"

Maurice raised his arm a bit but dropped it.

"I promise, I'll stay away from the crossfire and hide in alleyways. If I need to fight then I'll remember-" Roland went on before suddenly being pulled in an embrace.

Maurice held him tightly, letting a few tears slip.

"Just bring our sister back." He choked out before letting go, turning him around and pushing his back.

Roland stumbled before turning.

"Thanks Mo, I love you." He said before running off, leaving Maurice standing there.

* * *

Most of the city was beginning to go up in flames as the army was searching for humans.

"Where did you say the bunkers were Angela?" Artemis asked.

"Near the subway, once we get there the humans will be ours. Simple enough." Angela replied with a small smile.

Suddenly Janice's voice piped up.

"Hey I found one!" She said as a young girl curled in a ball, putting her arms over her head.

"P-please don't hurt me!" She begged, shaking.

Cosmo's stomach churned as he watched her.

"Well don't just stand there! Take her out!" Trixie said.

Janice held up a thumb.

"You got it." She said cheerfully.

No! Don't! Cosmo wanted to scream those words out. He looked at his sister, about to betray her and the others.

Janice's hand turned into a lobster claw and held it up, ready to strike. The young girl screamed. Suddenly a loud bang was heard. Janice blinked before she felt something making her immobile and was spreading throughout her body until she could only move her head and hands.

"What the hell?!" She yelled as pink foamy gunk covered her body.

The young girl blinked in confusion as the others were just shocked.

"What-?!" Angela asked before she dodged one of the sticky bullets.

"What the hell is happening?!" She demanded, clenching her jaw.

"The end of Skeleton King's hold on you!"

The others turned to see the Hyperforce standing a few feet away from them. The girl got up and ran off as fast as she could. Cosmo watched her leave, making sure she got away safely.

"None of you are going back there!" Chiro said.

Angela stepped back and glared. She then turned to the others.

"Take them down but keep the subject alive! I'll deal with them later!" She ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" The others yelled before the Formless started charging the team.

Artemis suddenly grabbed Cosmo's hand as she and him ran off.

"We gotta go back and get project Titan! It's the only way to fight our mother!" She explained.

Cosmo wanted to wriggle out of her grasp but he only looked back, watching as Angela sneaked away and the others fighting.

Nova began to block Jerica's attacks, which were long electric whips.

"You don't have to do this! You don't have to follow him!" She said, trying to appeal to her emotions.

Jerica growled and kicked her from under her feet, causing Nova to fall. Jerica then began to go after her neck when she got back up, but was then shocked by Sprx. She yelled and fell to her knees before turning and growling.

"Sorry kid, nothing personal." Sprx said.

Jerica began to get up and attack when she felt something hit her hand and the gunk overtook her.

"Damn it!" She yelled in defeat.

Reid punched Gibson in the face and then slapped him with his tail. Gibson coughed before using his spin shocker to subdue him. Reid fell to his knees before Jubilee hopped over him and turned her hands into gauntlets and slammed her fist on the ground. The shockwave sent Gibson in the air. Gibson then used this as an opportunity to shoot out the sticky bullets. Jubilee dodged them quickly, letting one of them hit Reid as he was getting up.

"Jubilee!" He yelled, glaring at her.

"Sorry bro!" Jubilee said before continuing to fight Gibson.

Otto fell to his stomach as a large Formless smacked him down. It was about to step and crush him when it felt a energy blade going through it. The Formless then collapsed as Mandarin huffed. He then was smacked by another large Formless and used his energy tail to squeeze the Formless until it exploded.

"I forgot how easy these things were. Though with my improved strength it's like breaking sticks" He said before laughing a bit.

Otto laughed before seeing a blur blur flying at him.

"Mandarin-!"

But Mandarin caught Maximus before he could get a hit him. He smiled as the blue monkey wriggled in his grasp.

"Let me go you mutant!" Maximus demanded.

Mandarin eyed Aurora Six, who nodded and aimed. He shrugged.

"Okay." Mandarin said before throwing him up a bit, causing Maximus to yell before being shot.

As he was immobilized, Mandarin leaned down to his son.

"I hate you." He snarled.

Mandarin smiled.

"Love you too." He said before kissing his head.

Trixie tried to blast Chiro and Jinmay as the kept trying to go after her. Jinmay was about to use her eye beams when she dodged one of Jubilee's attacks. Chiro kicked Trixie out of the way and ran over.

"Chiro spearo!" He yelled, throwing a lightning bolt at her.

Jubilee yelped and blocked it by holding her arms up to her face. Trixie then huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Ok seriously? You're gonna announce your attack name?! What if someone has the same powers and steals it? You'd be screwed! Besides it's so lame!" Trixie scoffed, waving her hand.

Chiro blinked before glaring.

"Uh no they wouldn't, it doesn't work like that. Besides it isn't lame! Don't you have any names for your attacks?" Chiro huffed.

Trixie rolled her eyes.

"Of course not! I would never-!"

"The attack she just used is called 'Lemon Peppermint Blast'!" Jubilee yelled with a grin.

Trixie widened her eyes and stomped the ground.

"Jubilee!" She yelled, face reddened.

Jubilee shrugged.

"Can't be a hypocrite Trix!"

Trixie growled before she was blasted into the wall. Jinmay grinned as her eyes cooled off.

"Lemon Peppermint Blast." She said cooly.

Trixie growled before feeling one of the sticky bullets hitting her.

* * *

Roland kept hearing the fighting not too far away as he walked down the desolate streets. He kept looking side to side, hoping to find Angela. Fear crept into him as he heard a loud explosion. He placed a hand on his chest and sighed.

"Jeez, you guys better be okay." He muttered when he felt someone behind him.

"I don't think it's them you should be worried about."

He turned his head a bit to see Artemis and Cosmo right behind him.

Roland froze, his brain told him to run or punch but his body wouldn't let him.

"Give me the gun Roland." Artemis ordered.

Roland didn't want to, he wanted to immobilize her and Cosmo but he felt like he had to listen. She was so...frightening for some reason! Roland shakily took off the gun and gave it to Artemis, who gave it to Cosmo.

"Well, I never thought we would have one of our other sibling back in just one week! That's amazing!" Artemis said, smiling.

Roland glared a bit.

"You ain't getting me back, it's the other way around." He said.

Artemis chuckled and patted his head.

"Are you still under the notion that you weren't meant to be one of us? That Skeleton King deserves to turn this planet into his own tomb? Because if so than the Hyperforce has been teaching you the wrong things." She said as Cosmo looked down.

Roland glared at her.

"So does brainwashing, which is what happened to you." He pointed out.

Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Please! It was only to show us how amazing Skeleton King is. You will understand too, it is why we were born."

Roland growled.

"So you're perfectly okay with having mom go back to the labs and suffer?!" He snarled.

Artemis stepped back, taken by his question.

"N-no of course not! If anything he deserves to fight by our side." She said.

Roland raised an eyebrow.

"But do you really think bony butt will agree? What are you gonna do when he's forced back in there? Are you gonna break him out?" Roland questioned, trying to get to her.

Artemis flinched, causing Cosmo to stare at her.

"I...I..."

"Cause I know you love and care about him too, and I know he wants you back." Roland said softly.

Artemis shook before scoffing.

"Whatever, your words mean nothing. I'm taking you to your real home, Cosmo you know what to do." She said, crossing her arms.

Cosmo's eyes widened before he looked at Roland, who looked like he'd been kicked in the stomach. Cosmo gulped and held up the gun, finger on on the trigger.

Roland tightened his fist, ready to use the shield. Cosmo pointed the gun at him before turning it to Artemis and shooting her in the leg.

"Ack!" Artemis yelled in pain before the gunk spread throughout her body and froze her.

"H-hey! Cosmo!" She yelled, turning her head towards him before seeing the tears in his eyes.

He dropped the gun, backed up, shook his head, then ran off.

"Cosmo!" Artemis yelled after him.

Roland quickly grabbed the gun and waved.

"See ya at home Artemis!" He said before running off.

"No wait!" Artemis shouted but Roland turned a corner and kept running.

She groaned and dipped her head, causing her chin to be stuck.

"Great."

* * *

Welp wonder where this will end up? Find out in the next update and thanks for reading!


	25. Chapter 25

Eyyy sorry for not updating last week, I was busy as hell. I almost wasn't gonna update today since I'm so tired, but I was like 'fuck it!' and boop here's another chapter! Please enjoy!

* * *

Jessy panted heavily, weakened by the fighting before feeling her tail getting hit by the sticky bullets and groaned.

The team began to relax before Mandarin saw a Formless creature coming up on them. Jinmay saw this too and blasted the Formless with her finger missiles.

"I think that's the last of them." She sighed as the team looked over the stuck monkeys.

Some of the allies then hopped down and started to put Mandarin's children onto large carts.

Mandarin started counting them but froze. Fear petrified him as his eyes widened.

"We're missing five!" He said worriedly.

The team looked up at him in shock.

"Five?!" Nova exclaimed, feeling sick.

Chiro turned towards the others and began to count as well.

"You're right! Angela, Artemis and Cosmo aren't here!" He exclaimed.

Nova went up to Reid, who was stuck next to Jubilee stuck on her side.

"Where are they?" She asked frowning.

"I don't know! Cosmo and Artemis ran back to the castle and I have no idea where Angela ran off to!" He said gruffly.

Nova turned towards the others before shaking her head. Chiro looked around, trying to find any sign of Angela.

"B-but there's supposed to be two others ." Mandarin muttered, also looking around.

"Two?" Otto asked.

"Yes, Oscar and the missing triplet to Jubilee and Reid. He's purple and he was supposed to be working in computers and engineering, but I haven't seen him since I left the labs. The triplet I wasn't given the chance to name isn't here either." Mandarin muttered, worried out of his mind.

Jinmay went up next to him and placed a hand on his bulky arm.

"He's probably at the castle, we can always go in there and-"

"I'm getting a life reading!" Gibson interrupted, his scanner beeping.

The others turned to him, Gibson pointed to one of the buildings not too far away.

"It's coming from over there!" He said before they went to the source.

When they got there, they heard some loud sniffling coming from the other side of the dumpster. Mandarin took another step before seeing Cosmo curled up and having his head in his knees.

"It's Cosmo." He breathed, causing the others to look up at him.

Otto peeked around the dumpster and stepped on a wrapper, causing the green and blue eyed monkey to look up and immediately cower.

"Oh no no we're not gonna hurt you!" Otto assured him.

Cosmo looked up at him, still shaking.

Sprx then looked out into the alley to make sure no other monkeys were around when he saw Artemis stuck by the gunk, her head down.

"Uh guys? I found the pink one." He called out.

The others turned to each other, well at least they found two of them.

"Otto, Gibson, get one of the carts and put her on it." Antauri ordered.

Otto and Gibson nodded and went to grab one of the free carts before rushing to Artemis.

Artemis was silent, still looking down and frowning.

"What? Have you come here to laugh at me?" She asked, no longer having any fire in her voice.

Otto shook his head and smiled.

"Nope, we're taking you home."

Artemis blinked back tears.

"My home is the lab, might as well leave me there. I don't belong here or with Skeleton King, since I have failed him. "

Otto shook his head again and laid a hand on her own free one. Antauri, noticing how dejected she looked and hearing what they were saying, went over to them. Artemis noticed him coming and eyed him, not being able to lift her head.

"That is not true, home is where the people who you love is, where you feel most happy. Were you ever happy living with Skeleton King?" Antauri asked.

Artemis looked thoughtful for a moment but then looked back down, defeated.

"N-no...I felt...something was missing..and I thought it was my mother..." She admitted.

Antauri had a small smile on his face as he took her hand.

"Then would staying with us and your mother make you happy?" He asked.

Artemis bit her lip as she felt her eyes growing wet.

"I don't know..I don't know what's right anymore...I don't know if I have that choice..."

"Then let's go to the robot and give you the ability to choose." Gibson said.

Artemis closed her eyes as tears began to fall down her face. She gave up.

"Otto, help me get her up." Gibson said.

Otto nodded and using the anti stick gloves, they put her on the cart. They pushed Artemis near the alley as they went back over to Cosmo, who as soon as he saw her tried to escape.

"Kid, calm down she's not gonna hurt you!" Sprx said to him.

Cosmo shook his head and began to crawl up onto the dumpster.

"She's stuck, she's not gonna do anything." Nova assured him.

"Listen to them Cosmo." Artemis sighed.

Cosmo shook his head more before he slipped and nearly fell, but was caught by Mandarin. Cosmo fearfully, but curiously looked up at him.

"It's over, you don't have to go back to him anymore." Mandarin said softly before putting him down.

Cosmo got to his feet and backed to the wall a bit, shaking. Why were they being so nice to him? Was this a trap? It couldn't be could it? Were they mad at him for being with Skeleton King?

"What were you doing over here?" Chiro asked.

Cosmo blinked, they do know he can't speak right?

"He and I were going back to the castle to get...project Titan but Cosmo turned on me and ran off." Artemis explained.

"Project Titan?" Gibson asked, eyebrow raised.

"It was our secret weapon in case anything happened. We were going to use it to fight mother but clearly that didn't happen." Artemis said before grumbling the last part.

Cosmo patted her hand and smiled, happy that it didn't.

"Don't rub it in." Artemis huffed.

Cosmo almost snickered before his attention was brought back to the others.

"So why did you betray her?" Antauri asked.

Cosmo opened his mouth and pointed to it, then shook his head. The others, minus Mandarin and Artemis, grew confused.

"What?" Jinmay asked.

Cosmo made sliding motions across his throat with his hand.

"I don't...you were gonna hurt someone?" Nova asked, causing Cosmo to freak and shake his head.

Mandarin sighed, knowing they still don't get it.

"He's mute." He stated.

Their eyes widened a bit in shock but it started to make sense.

"His vocal cords were severely damaged when he was born, so that's why he isn't speaking." Mandarin explained, crossing his arms.

"If I could lift my head I would nod." Artemis grumbled.

Cosmo nodded as the others finally understood.

"Ohhh! Sorry kid." Sprx chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

Cosmo shook his head and smiled.

"Can you use sign language?" Antauri asked.

Cosmo shook his head again, causing the others turned to each other. That wasn't good, how were they going to communicate with him? Gibson thought on it before he looked down at his scanner and picked it up. He pushed a few buttons before hand in it to Cosmo.

"Here, you can type what you want to say here." He explained.

Cosmo blinked but took it and began to type. The team waited before he turned the screen towards them.

'No one taught me how to sign Skeleton King just told me that I should just be quiet and follow orders..' It read.

The team looked at each other, saddened by the treatment Skeleton King gave him. Mandarin however was slightly irritated, remembering how the robots treated Cosmo in particular. The robots were specifically told to dispose of any infant with defects, so why did they have Cosmo be shipped to Skeleton King mute? Because of that stupid 'just be quiet and follow orders' bias? How prejudiced and stupid can you get?! Cosmo noticed his irritation and tilted his head in curiosity. Mandarin kneeled down to him.

"You won't have to go back to him and just follow orders. You can be your one person." He said.

Cosmo paused and thought on that before smiling widely. That was true now, he would never have to worry about hurting an innocent being ever again. Gibson decided to ask Antauri's previous question again, curious as to why he betrayed Skeleton King.

"So why didn't you follow Skeleton King's orders? Why did you betray him?" He asked.

Cosmo blinked before typing, the answer to him as clear as day. He turned the screen to the others.

'Because I refuse to hurt innocent people who did nothing to me personally. Especially when it comes to genocide.' It read.

Well that answered a few questions but raised another one. Nova scratched her head.

"But how? Isn't he supposed to be brainwashed?" She asked the others, hoping for an theory.

Antauri smiled a bit and looked at Cosmo, already having an idea. Cosmo backed up nervously, wondering why he was staring at him.

"It may be possible that even Skeleton king's forced loyalty cannot taint a heart as kind as his." He said as Mandarin silently agreed, relieved.

Antauri then looked over at Artemis and also smiled at her.

"Or as yours."

Artemis eyed him before looking off to the side, frowning.

"Whatever." She muttered.

A huge explosion shook the ground, causing some of the others to stumble.

"What was that?!" Sprx exclaimed, holding onto a trash can.

Antauri's communicator beeped very loudly. He answered it, hearing Johnny Sunspot's distressed voice.

"Team! The robots have left the lab and are wreaking havoc across the city in the residential district! They're heading towards the bunkers!" He exclaimed.

"You're kidding!" Otto gasped.

The team gathered closer to hear better, now worried.

"We're gonna try to keep them away but I don't think it's gonna be enough, they're really ruthless." Master Offay said.

"We'll be over there right away." Antauri said before Chiro's communicator started beeping.

"Chiro! It's Roland! I can't find him anywhere! The backup gun, the armor and the gloves are gone too!" Nikita hysterically exclaimed, causing the others to get instantly sick.

"No!" Antauri shouted in worry.

Mandarin, in pure fear, turned to Artemis.

"Please tell me you have seen him!" He begged.

Artemis gave her mother a serious look and nodded.

"I have, I was about to take him back to Skeleton King but when Cosmo betrayed me he ran off." Artemis explained.

Sprx rushed over to her.

"Show us where he ran off right now! He could get taken by those things!" Sprx shouted.

Artemis clenched her fists.

"Then set me free! I'll show you where he ran off and I'll help you take those robots down." Artemis said, not taking her eyes off Mandarin.

Mandarin paused before nodding. They have another one on their side.

"Gibson." Chiro said, eyeing the blue monkey.

Gibson nodded and used the antidote, having the gunk to melt down. Artemis jumped off the cart and rushed to the street, the others following her. She pointed down to the street corner where she saw Roland run off.

"He turned down there! I'm not sure where he ran off to but that's the last time I saw him." She said before they heard loud whooshing behind them.

They looked towards the sky to see heavy artillery drones flying up towards them.

"What are those?" Jinmay asked worriedly.

"Artillery drones, they're for some of us when we would have gone up against bigger enemies...before project Titan." Artemis said while Cosmo nodded.

Mandarin felt incredible amounts of anxiety and he backed up.

"They're coming for me." He said, suddenly finding it hard to breath.

Otto shook his head and got out his saws, about to take his chances.

"No not happening!" Otto snapped as the others, including Mandarin, got into a fighting position as the drones caught them and started flying towards them, guns outstretched.

They then heard one of the drones behind them and turned as it was very close. It aimed the gun at Mandarin. Time seemed to stand still. The drone paused before aiming the gun at the drones and firing at them, causing a few of them to explode and fall. Mandarin turned towards the wrecked drones before looking back at the one who shot them down.

Meanwhile Oscar smirked as he was still in the labs. He was sitting in what used to be a heavy artillery drone as it was hooked up to the lab's main computer. 84 was sitting in front of the computer next to Oscar. Oscar then tapped a button to a music player and turned it to some loud rock music. He works much better with music. Oscar started to fly the controlled drone towards the other drones as they started to fire at him.

Suddenly the computer got a transmission as Skelemandarin's angry face popped up in the corner.

"Just what do you idiots think you're-?!"

"Don't you try to stop me!" Oscar snapped, causing Skelemandarin to reel back in shock.

When Oscar turned on the music, he didn't realize that he also turned on the microphone that blasted out to the others, the settings did work together sometimes. Oscar smirked at the clone and felt fire grow in his belly.

"This is Oscar formally known as Os-12, the new owner of the Project Artemis labs, declaring rebellion!" He announced, causing the others on the ground to turn to each other.

Mandarin smiled as the worries of what happened to Oscar washed away and instead felt an insane amount of pride and joy.

Skelemandarin growled, pissed off that this was happening. Oscar snickered and winked.

"Next time don't abandon the computer and engineering genius just because he can't use his legs." He laughed.

"You egotistical little-!" Skelemandarin screeched before his transmission was cut.

The drone flew towards the other ones as they fired at it. Oscar felt the vibrations of each hit to the drone. He pushed the button on one of the joysticks he was holding and fired back. He grabbed one of the larger drones and used it as a shield before slamming it into another drone. A slue of firepower came from the drones as Oscar managed to dodge them, but just barely. One of the missiles grazed the drone's arm and Oscar yelped at the huge vibration. The team watched in awe for a second.

"He's actually not that bad..." Sprx muttered.

Chiro turned to the others and smiled.

"So let's help him out! Hyp-!"

However before he could finish, Mandarin, Cosmo, and Artemis darted towards the crossfire.

"Hey!" Chiro yelled, causing at least Mandarin to stop.

"I didn't finish!" Chiro huffed.

Mandarin shrugged with a straight face.

"I apologize, but there's just no time." He said before firing a missile at one of the drones.

The team followed him as Chiro sighed, annoyed. Chiro threw one of his 'Chiro's Speros' at a drone before it could fire at him. Oscar saw the team fighting out of the corner of his eye and smiled a bit.

"Man, and just when I wanted to show off how cool I am." He sighed as 84 scoffed.

"Way to be modest-on your left!" 84 warned before Oscar dodged an incoming attack.

Artemis is dodged attack after attack before noticing Sprx thrusting magno ball blazers at the huge robots.

"Hey red!" She called out.

Sprx turned to her as she held up her hammer.

"Perhaps I can add some more force to those electric spheres?" She suggested.

Sprx grew confused as her nickname for his attack, but left it alone as he went over to her. He held out one of them as she then slammed her hammer against it, sending it flying to the drone. It went through it and a few other drones. They all electrocuted and fell.

"Ah yeah that's what I'm talking about!" Sprx cheered before high fiving Artemis.

Artemis's smile dropped and she blinked.

"But you didn't say anything." She pointed out.

Sprx blinked, confused by her statement.

"Um..."

Cosmo shook before dodging an attack. What was wrong with him?! These drones are gonna hurt innocent people and here he was chickening out! He dodged another attack and he really not cut out for battle? What was he supposed to do?! He had to act fast but so many things were happening at once!

"Cosmo!"

Cosmo turned to Artemis as she shielded herself from an attack as she went over to Cosmo.

"You need to find Roland. He could be taken by the robots at any moment. Find him and bring him to the robot." Artemis said, pointing at Gibson's scanner Cosmo was still holding.

Cosmo looked from the scanner to Artemis, uncertainty and panic painted on his face. Did she know he was having trouble fighting? His question was answered when Artemis patted his head.

"Don't worry, when we get home you can train so you can get better at combat, now go!" She said before turning Cosmo and lightly pushing him.

Cosmo looked back at her before running towards the direction she pointed out.

Oscar kept shooting and fighting the drones, feeling so much adrenaline flowing through his veins. He slammed a drone into the wall and turned to fire the last one. He kept pushing the button but nothing came out.

"Oscar! The plasma canon's jammed!" 84 told him.

"What?!" Oscar then felt heavy vibrations as his drone was shot repeatedly before being slammed into the wall.

The team watched this in horror as the drone that slammed him aimed.

"Oscar!" Artemis yelled worriedly.

Oscar panted, trying to think of a solution and fast.

"It's okay, we just get another one out and go back." He said calmly.

84 made gulping noises.

"That was the last drone we had. We can't." He said.

Oscar turned to him in shock. Crap! He can't hack into the other drones either, it would take way too long and it was much more complicated. It was much too far out of his expertise. The purple monkey sighed heavily looking dejected.

"Damn it, just when things were starting to go my way again." He said with frustration, looking back at the drone that was ready to fire.

He then sadly smiled.

"But at least I saw my family, even if it was only for a moment." Oscar said softly.

The drone powered up the gun before it was shot down by a missile. Oscar, shocked, looked down to Mandarin.

"So you now own the labs, am I correct?" Mandarin asked with a small smirk.

Oscar straightened his back a bit and looked at the corner of the screen, realizing that his mic was on the entire time.

"U-uh yeah." He said, a bit embarrassed.

The team rushed up next to Mandarin.

"You okay in there?" Chiro asked.

Oscar nodded.

"Yeah I'm fine."

Nova and Otto flew up to the drone but saw that there was no pilot.

"Uh where are you?" Otto asked, looking inside.

"I'm auto-piloting this from the labs. Since, you know, can't use my legs." Oscar chuckled a bit.

The others turned to each other, a bunch of questions forming in their minds. Artemis ducked her head, remembering the day when they were all re-activated.

"You can't?" Chiro asked.

"Nope, the robots thought I'd be too useless so they tossed me aside. Though they probably should have done that before making me a computer and engineering wiz." Oscar explained, having a hint of cynicism in his voice.

Mandarin went cold, but was the least to say unsurprised. Still the thought was so despicable! Something started to form inside Mandarin, something familiar and fiery. Yet it was far too small to be noticeable or strong enough to do anything.

"That's really dumb." Sprx commented.

"True, but I've been told that they were just starting out...still a pretty dumb move. Right 84?" Oscar asked.

"Yeah..." 84's voice muttered.

The sudden loud yelling and destruction quickly got their attention.

"The robots are getting closer towards the residential district!" Antauri exclaimed before Chiro's communicator beeped.

"Chiro some of the robots broke off to the business district and are heading for the other barricades!" Aurora six stated.

"Great now they're splitting up." Sprx grumbled.

"We're going to try to hold them off as long as we can but there's so many of them!" Suupa lamented.

"Don't worry just keep close to the citizens! We gotta get to the residential district." Chiro said to the others.

"But what about the ones coming our way? The citizens are still trying to get to the barricade!" Nova reminded him.

Artemis quickly raised a hand and smiled with confidence.

"We can get them to safety and handle the oncoming robots." She said.

The drone got down from the wall after the internal repairs were done and got down.

"Yeah I can rework all of them much quicker when they're all split apart into many pieces. I mean I had a hard time wrangling one up." Oscar said before chuckling.

"You're lucky I'm so forgiving! Who in their right mind would put a claw in a hospital wheelchair?" 84 huffed.

"Hey that's innovation! Hospitals should use that kind of thing!" Oscar argued.

It was so strange hearing this version of the robots, even though Mandarin did say he was one of the few decent ones.

Mandarin turned to Artemis, who was hopping up on the drone's shoulder.

"Just be careful. They can get aggressive." He said.

"Oh I know it!" Oscar huffed.

Artemis giggled but nodded. The drone rose from the ground and flew towards the robots.

* * *

Ass shall be kicked! Now where's Roland at anyway? Hmm guess we'll have to find out in the next chapter huh? Thanks for reading!


	26. Chapter 26

Hey guys I'm really sorry this took a few weeks, I've been really tired and have been working a lot at my internship. I'll post another chapter later this week and try my best to update regularly. Also thank you so much to Guest66 for that really nice review! I mean holy moly I was really happy when I read it, I love the other reviews too btw they're all really nice. but here it is. The huge showdown! Please enjoy! Oh also uh trigger warning as there is sorta a suicide attempt. Just so you know. Please enjoy!

* * *

Roland sighed heavily as he looked around, growing increasingly frustrated.

"Ugh where is she?! This city is way too huge." He grumbled.

Roland then heard some screaming as he saw many citizens running from the robots.

He then saw one of the robot's' hands turn into much larger hands as they pounded the ground.  
Roland saw one of the citizens, a small girl, trip and fall. The shockwaves were quickly coming towards her.

"Woah!" Roland yelled before darting towards her and pushing her from the impact.

The girl looked at him curiously and giggled before petting his head. Roland grumbled, toddlers. Roland quickly looked around before seeing one of the openings to the barricade past the alley. He took the girl by the hand and the two went towards the opening as fast as they could. Roland pointed towards the opening.

"Just...go there." He panted before looking for Angela again.

He heard loud rumbling as one of the bulky robots had turned himself into a ball and was rolling towards the girl, who was now pulling a piece of candy from her pocket.

"Ah shi-crap!"

Roland pulled her away from the robot and saw a bunch of robots coming their way. He looked for another opening which was near Triko's cove. The two quickly ran towards the opening and Roland pointed towards it. The girl tilted her head.

"Now go!" He huffed before beginning to run off.

"Can I find Angela now please?!" He begged to no one in particular.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a robot on top of the building, turning his hands into a rocket launcher and launching a missile towards the building above the opening. The girl was walking towards the opening but wasn't quick enough.

"Son of a- freaking-!" Roland yelled before pulling her out of the way and shielding her from the blast.

The rubble covered the opening, making Roland groan in frustration.

"Okay! There's another opening near a old bar, if we cut through the next two alleys up here we can-!" Roland and the girl didn't see the slippery substance that one of the robots spilled during their destruction.

Roland slipped and fell onto his stomach. He groaned in pain before seeing a robot holding the girl up in one claw.

"Where is the subject?!" He demanded.

The girl just shrugged, unfazed. Roland screamed in utter anger and frustration before getting up.

Meanwhile Artemis and Oscar were taking citizens and putting them on top of places where the robots won't get to them. The citizens were terrified of them at first until they were set on top of the tall buildings. They must have assumed that Artemis and Oscar were on the team's side so they thanked them for helping them.

They now were flying and searching for other citizens when they saw Cosmo looking around.

They dropped next to him as Artemis hopped down.

"Cosmo, did you find Roland yet?" She asked.

Cosmo sadly shook his head. Oscar looked around, now growing frantic to find him.

"This isn't good, where did he go?" Oscar grumbled, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"He could be anywhere by now. Ugh this is hopeless!" Artemis lamented.

"I know! There's so many robots! What can we do?" Cosmo typed.

Suddenly they heard Roland's frustrated screaming. They quickly ran through an alley to find Roland on one of the robot's arm as he held onto a little girl.

"Get! Your! Damn! Claws! Off! Her! You! Stupid! Crappy! Bucket of bolts!" Roland screamed before activating his sword and in sheer blind rage stabbing the robot in the back.

This caused the robot to shut off given that it was his power supply and keeled over. The girl hopped off before he fell.

The three monkeys gasped as Roland put his hands over his mouth, realizing what he just did. He then noticed the others and quickly held out his sword.

As Roland was ready to defend himself, Artemis looked from him, to the robot, to the little girl who was now sitting on the robot. Artemis slowly smiled.

"Roland! That was awesome!" Artemis exclaimed.

Roland blinked and frowned. What the hell was she talking about?

"That was?" He asked.

"It was?" Cosmo typed.

"Yeah! Where did you learn to use those?" Artemis asked as the three went up to him.

"You saw me use them before, dummy!" Roland snapped before realizing.

"Wait does this mean you're on our side now?" He asked, slowly smiling.

Artemis nodded as Cosmo typed. Roland wanted to peer over and look at what he's typing before Cosmo turned on the text to speech settings.

"The others talked to her and she agreed to help."

Roland smiled widely, happy that more of his siblings were with him. He then looked up at the drone suspiciously.

"Hey don't look at me like that. I just helped them take out the drones." Oscar said.

"Yeah but who're you?" Roland asked.

"Oscar, another one of your siblings." Artemis quickly explained.

Roland put a hand on his forehead and his eyes widened. More siblings were just coming out of the woodwork!

"Holy crap how many brothers and sisters do I have?!" He wheezed before shaking his head.

Not now, maybe later. Artemis looked towards the opening to the barricade, which was about to be taken over by the robots. She eyed Roland and smirked.

"Are you ready to take them down?"

Roland stepped back a step.

"Wait you're gonna let me fight them?" He asked.

Artemis nodded.

"Sure, you got what it takes. Besides we'll be right by you in case anything happens." She assured them.

Roland looked toward the onslaught of robots and gulped. There were a lot of them.

"Don't be scared of them, they're evil now but they weren't always like that. They can also be put back together too." 84 said softly.

Roland jumped at his voice but paused.

"Hang on, I'll take care of these guys for you. Here's your first lesson in combat!" Artemis said before flying towards the robot's, hands turned into hammers.

She then raised both of them and slammed them into the ground, sending the robots into the air and falling.

"Hell yeah!" Oscar cheered.

"That was awesome!" Roland yelled before the four saw the other robots trying to get into the other alley that Roland saved the girl from.

Cosmo shook at the sight, unsure why he was so scared. Artemis put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Cosmo it'll be fine. Just remember we're protecting innocent people from these things." She said softly.

Cosmo slowly nodded, he knew that but he was still a little bit nervous.

"Come on guys, let's put an end to this robot invasion." Artemis said cooly before the four darted towards the robots.

One of the robots was about to blast the door open when Roland sliced down his legs. He quickly shielded himself from the blasts the robots were firing before Oscar crushed them. Artemis hopped over one of the robot's heads and slammed down the one who used his missile launcher on the building. Cosmo clawed through many robots in a flash before they fell. He then felt a sharp pain in his back as a bulky robot blasted him in the back. He was about ready to fire again before Oscar tied up his gun, causing it to swell and explode.

Roland was held up by one of the robots and was trying to slice his arm off before Cosmo thrusted his claw through his chest. Artemis caught Roland as he fell before the four kept fighting until they all punched the final robot into the air and he landed next to one of the others.

Roland panted, out of breath and a tad bit exhausted.

"We did it." He sighed before pausing.

"We did it!" He excitedly shouted before jumping on Cosmo, hugging him.

"Well that's just the robots around here, there's more near the residential district." Oscar pointed out.

Artemis looked towards the residential district.

"Well then why don't we help the others?" She questioned before the four got onto the drone as it flew towards the residential district.

Roland then awkwardly looked at Artemis.

"Um you aren't gonna tell the others that I said curse words right? I'd never hear the end of it from Antauri or Gibson."

Artemis giggled but pressed her finger against her lips.

"I'll let it slide for now."  
-

The team during all of this was right on the robot's tails. Mandarin felt the uneasiness and fear he had around the robots before, only this time the level of terror was noticeably lower than usual. Both from healing overtime and the knowledge that the others would be right there with him in case something happened.

"Chiro spearo!" Chiro yelled as he threw a lightning bolt at one of the robot's backs, getting their attention.

The robots turned to the others and their eyes locked on Mandarin.

"Subject!" They all hissed and charged towards him.

Mandarin felt his fear levels going up but he grabbed the first robot that came into contact with him. The fear suddenly melted away as he realized how much power he really had over these things. The robot squirmed a bit before realizing his fate. He was then thrown into the air before punched all the way into the farthest building on that street. The other robots watched as he fell to the ground. They looked back at Mandarin as he dusted his hands, the others ready to pounce on them. The robots turned to each other before charging towards the team.

Otto dodged a few of one of the robots attacks before slicing him down. He then saw one of the bulky robots come up behind Mandarin to knock him out. Otto thrusted his saw into the robot's back and flung himself towards him. He kicked the robot in the head and Mandarin turned towards him. The two then sliced down the bulky robot before fighting off the next few together.

"Curses, it looks like they brought up his spirits back after all." One of the robots grumbled before turning on his communicator.

"Lord Skeleton King? This is number 43 in the Project Artemis laboratories, we need project Titan and our leader now!" He begged.

He heard Skeleton King's dark chuckle.

"Do not rush the process dear 43, it is almost ready." Skeleton King said.

43 shook as he hid behind a trash can.

"I will be waiting for their downfall in the stadium. The Mandarin clone suggested it would be a more entertaining experience, we will unleash project Titan then." Skeleton King said.

43 looked out at the battle as it continued.

"W-what should I do?" He asked.

"Come over to the stadium where Leader is, I need help with the finishing touches since that boy has taken Maximus." Skeleton King ordered.

43 gulped but nodded.

"R-right away master!" He said before getting up and sneaking into the shadows.

Jinmay used her eye beams on the bulky robots before using her missiles to stop a robot from hurting Chiro.

"Double monkey attack!" Antauri and Gibson yelled before using their combined attack to wipe out a large chunk of robots.

Sprx was about to compliment the two before blocking a robot's attack.

"Jeez where do you guys keep coming from?!"

"Silence demon!" The robot yelled before trying to strike him again.

"If they are the demons, I wonder what that makes you." Mandarin's voice said behind him.

The robot turned and dodged Mandarin's attempt to smack him.

"They're demons because they have taken you from us! You should be where you belong!" The robot snapped.

Mandarin looked around, as if trying to find something particular about his surroundings.

"Hmm? I'm not at the robot right now..."

The robot growled and morphed his claw into a long blade.

"I don't mean there you garbage heap!" He snarled before trying to attack him.

Mandarin blocked his attack and held the robot up by his hand. The robot thrashed and attempted to stab him with his spider like appendages.

"Why would those demons even want to take you back? Don't you realize how worthless you really are?! How much of a waste of space you are?!" He growled, trying to break him down.

Mandarin tilted his head.

"Hmm perhaps, but they don't." He said, raising him up a bit.

"And I will not have you talk about them like that!" He stated before using his knuckle missiles to blast the robot away.

He sighed as Sprx looked up at him sadly. He placed a hand on his bulky arm, hating to hear him feel that way about himself.

"Mandarin-" Sprx tried to say before Mandarin raised a hand up.

"We can work on my self esteem issues later, right now we need to keep fighting." He huffed before going after more robots.

Sprx briefly nodded before joining him, still feeling bad for him.

The numbers of the robots kept dwindling and dwindling until the last one was taken out by Chiro's Monkey Fu.

Chiro sighed as Mandarin kept looking around.

"The leader should be around, where is he?" Mandarin questioned but decided to drop it for now.

He found find him himself later. The team suddenly heard the drone coming over as they saw Cosmo, Artemis, and Roland with it. The drone dropped down as the monkeys hopped off. Extreme relief came over the others as they saw Roland was safe, a few scratches on him but nothing too bad.

"Roland!" The others exclaimed before Otto engulfed him in a hug.

"What were you doing?" Nova demanded, worried out of her mind.

Mandarin kept looking over Roland in his new getup, a smile growing on his face.

"Finding Angela." Roland answered as Mandarin leaned down to him.

"Why-?" Chiro began to ask.

"It actually fits?" Mandarin asked Roland.

Roland smiled and nodded.

"Yeah! It's a bit loose but it still fits, these guys were huge help." Roland said, holding up his gloved hands.

"Wait you used them-?!" Gibson tried to say.

"Oh is that so? Did you fight any robots?" Mandarin asked, eager to know.

"Heck yeah I did! I kicked a ton of robot ass!" Roland said proudly before covering his mouth in shock.

"Roland language-!"

Mandarin patted his head, ignoring his slip up for now.

"Well done! I'm guessing you were well protected?" Mandarin asked, eyeing Artemis.

Artemis nodded and raised a thumbs up.

"I only got a couple of injuries but they ain't that bad." Roland said, pointing to the scratch on his cheek.

"Don't worry I made them pay." Oscar said, raising a robotic arm.

"Good! No one hurts my children and gets away with it." Mandarin huffed.

"You guys-!" Nova tried to call but Antauri placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Let them go." He said, smiling a bit.

"Well." A chilling voice cooed.

The others turned towards Angela as she slowly clapped, a cruel smile on her face. She was almost unrecognizable, both in appearance and in personality.

"Isn't this cute? A warm family moment." She said harshly.

The team quickly got up. Roland growled in anger before remembering why he went to look for her. He was still a bit angry with her, but he will convince her to come home.

Angela looked over to Artemis and Cosmo.

"So you have decided to go with the enemy huh? Can't say I'm surprised, you both were pretty weak." She said.

Artemis glared at her while Cosmo just looked at her sadly.

"Angela you do not have to do this, your fate does not lie with Skeleton King." Antauri said, trying to appease to her.

Angela chuckled darkly.

"Oh Antauri, if that's the case then shouldn't Chiro not be the chosen one? Since he has a destiny? Since that was something he was born to do?" Angela questioned, motioning Chiro.

The others looked at each other as Roland stepped foreword.

"Angela it was some cosmic stuff that decided that, I'm sure the cosmic stuff wouldn't have us fight for the bone bag just because we were born to. It's Skeleton King's fault." He scoffed.

Angela rolled her eyes and pulled out a blaster.

"I'm already getting bored of this. It was kinda funny watching a little kid trying to be like his mommy and fight mean ol' robots, but now it's time I finished this." She said before firing at Roland.

Before anyone could do anything, Roland shielded himself from the blasts.

"Come on you brat, fight me!" Angela taunted.

Roland looked over his shield before looking at the others. She was going after him specifically, why? Whatever the reason, he knew he had to stop her and bring her home. He activated his sword and was ready to pounce on her.

"Roland don't you do it!" Antauri warned.

Angela huffed and turned up the power on her blaster before firing at a weak building, which fell in between Roland and the others. The dust kicked up as Angela darted towards Roland.

The others coughed before the dust settled, hearing the battle begin.

Roland jumped back as Angela tried to hit him with the blaster.

"Are you going to keep jumping or are you actually going to fight back?!" Angela snapped before firing at his leg.

Roland jumped and landed a kick in her chest. She fell back and laughed coldly, sending shivers up Roland's spine. What the hell did Skeleton King do to her? Angela then got back up and fired at him as Roland kept shielding himself before trying to deflect the blasts, trying to hit Angela back.

"Angie, you know this isn't you! Stop being a dummy and come home!" Roland shouted at her.

"I already have a home! Technically you do too, but if you're going to be anything like Artemis and Cosmo perhaps your home should be six feet under!" Angela yelled back before firing at him, the blast grazing his shoulder.

Roland yelped and placed a hand on the injury before hissing. Some of the others got passed the building and we're ready to stop this when Angela shot down another building, blocking them. The team backed up as it fell, wondering how strong was her blaster.

"Stay out of this!" She warned before continuing to fight Roland.

The rest got around the first building. Nova panted.

"This isn't good, they're going to kill each other if they keep this up!" She said worriedly.

Oscar kept looking around, trying to find someway to stop them.

"We could always pick them up and hold them." He suggested.

"How are we gonna do that?! Angela keeps blocking us!" Sprx huffed.

Mandarin looked around until he looked into the alleys. Maybe a short cut would help them get around and maybe sneak up on them.

"Perhaps..." He muttered before slipping into them.

"Hey wait for us!" Chiro said before the others followed, all except Artemis.

Oscar turned to look back at her.

"Artemis?"

Artemis then used her jetpack to fly over the building. She was not going to just sneak around, her brother and sister needed her.

Angela kicked Roland out from under his feet, followed by a slap to the stomach by Roland's tail. Angela grabbed it and threw him aside. Roland hissed in pain before shielding himself from another on slot of blasts. He then dodged Angela's kicks before elbowing her in the chest,

"I don't want to fight you!" Roland shouted.

"Wow never thought I would hear those words come out of your mouth." Angela laughed before attempting to punch him.

They fought until Angela had her back to the building, not seeing Artemis fly over. Roland noticed Artemis fly down next to him. Roland blinked.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

Artemis smiled.

"I can't stand by and watch my younger brother fight alone. You're still too young to be fighting by yourself." She said to him.

Roland scoffed.

"I was doing fine." He huffed as Angela growled, seeing the others try to sneak up on them.

"I said this was between me and him!" She barked turning towards them.

Sprx glared and pointed to Roland.

"Kid do you even hear yourself?! You're fighting your own brother, how is that right?" He asked.

Angela glared at him and pointed at Mandarin.

"Says the monkey that has been fighting his own brother for the past few years!" She huffed.

"And we don't want that happening all over again, just let us help you." Mandarin said.

Angela growled as rage filled her lungs. This was her and Roland's fight! No one else's! She summoned Formless to back her up.

"You stay out of my way or else you will be crushed!" She huffed before darting towards Roland.

The team tried to get a hold of her, but the onslaught of Formless was too much. Oscar blasted the majority of Formless warriors as the team began to take the rest of them down. Mandarin tried to break free and go after Angela and Roland, but the bulkier larger Formless pushed him back. They need to get to the two kids, now! Roland and Angela kept fighting, more with Roland defending himself than anything, until Roland tripped back and fell onto his back. He groaned until he saw the front of the blaster and the top of the broken down arcade, the cat head ready to fall on them. Angela stared him down, something started to shift in her mind, almost something trying to convince her to stop. Angela grew conflicted all of a sudden. Why? She was so ready before. The team took down the Formless before surrounding the two.

"Angela don't you dare!" Artemis growled.

"Don't do it! Don't! Do it!" Sprx warned.

Angela turned to the others, growing more and more conflicted. Mandarin was about ready to grab her while she was distracted, so many emotions going through him. He was not about to let this happen! Roland sadly looked up at her.

"Angela, you don't have to do this. Think about what you're doing." He said, trying one last time to appease her.

Angela's hand shook, the chip in her head trying to force her to shoot. The silence was heavy. Suddenly Angela dropped her gun, forcing her arm to pull it down. The others sighed in relief as Roland got up. He smiled, finally knowing she was back. Angela stared at him for a bit before kicking him away, grabbing the gun, and aiming at the cat head and firing. The head fell towards her as she stood there, waiting for her end. Oscar quickly shot the head into two, just so it won't crush her.

"Holy shrieking Shuggazoom!" He wheezed, shocked by what just happened.

Angela blinked, knowing her suicide attempt didn't work. She suddenly felt Mandarin pick her up and held her close. Angela tried to struggle out.

"Let me go! If I can't even follow Skeleton King's orders I'm useless!" She screamed, tears running down her face.

"I thought so too!"

Mandarin held her tighter.

"I thought that once as well, during my time at the labs I thought I was nothing now that I failed Skeleton King. That this was my final purpose But now I know that's a lie." He said before pulling back a bit.

Angela sniffled and wiped her eyes, not being able to look at Mandarin in the face. Mandarin used his finger to tilt her head back up.

"I know that all of the terrible tortures and methods were not my fault, nor was it my destiny. You being born with the purpose of being in an army is not your fault or destiny either, no matter what anyone else says." He said.

Angela's eyes welled up with more tears before digging her face into his chest, sobbing with so much regret.

"Angela...you big dummy..."

Angela looked down at Roland, who too was now sobbing.

"I'm just...so happy you're not being stupid anymore!" Roland whined before crying.

"Roland! I'm so sorry!" Angela whined as Mandarin picked him up.

Mandarin sighed as he held the two close to him. Roland and Angela quickly held onto each other and sobbed. There was one good thing that came out of this whole lab mess, all of the children that came from it.

Chiro smiled in relief.

"Monkey team, let's go home."

* * *

Holy. Freaking. Hell! Welp we got Angela back! That's good! Thanks for reading!


	27. Chapter 27

Eyyy I said I would update later in the week...does Sunday count? Anywho remember Project Titan? You wanna know what it is? Let's find out.

* * *

Back at the robot, Angela was taken to remove the chip in her head. Roland was engulfed by the amount of hugs by his siblings.

"Angie's home! Rolly's home!" Penny cheered before hugging Roland.

Maurice and Violet held onto Roland tightly, so happy he and Angela were back safely. That was before Roland was knocked to the ground by a sobbing Kuzon. Roland laughed as tears stung his eyes. Erin yelled as he saw many of his siblings in the robot as Melody and Mason just stared, unsure what to think.

Meanwhile Cosmo sat down as Gibson placed the activators they use on the team sometimes into the back of his head. His systems shut off for a moment as he ducked his head. The brainwashed information was sucked out of his systems, no longer needing. to follow Skeleton King. He was still knocked out before suddenly raising his head back up again.

"Does that feel better?" Gibson asked, receiving a nod.

Artemis shifted uncomfortably in her seat and began to fidget. Antauri noticed this and tilted his body a bit so he could get a better look at her.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked.

Artemis bit her lip and hesitated.

"I'm just... worried that once my real personality shows up, you may not like me very much." She admitted.

Antauri blinked in surprise. He did remember hearing about the fact that some of the personalities on these kids were forcibly changed. However just seeing it first hand was a bit jarring.

"Why would you think that?" He asked.

Artemis held her arms and closed her eyes.

"The robot's thought I was too chipper, too perky for their liking. They said it was too unprofessional for a warrior so..." Her voice trailed off.

Antauri went around Artemis, knelt down to her and took her hand. She looked up at him.

"If that was true, Otto wouldn't be as cheerful or as comedic as he is." Antauri said, looking over at Otto as he was talking excitedly to the quadruplets as they just got back to normal.

Artemis looked back at them, seeing Jessy giggle as Jerica constantly apologize for what they've done. Otto,in response, hugged her and comforted her. Artemis smiled a bit before looking back at Antauri.

"Are you sure you won't mind?" She asked, fidgeting a bit more.

Antauri shook his head and gave her an assuring smile.

"Not at all. I promise, we'll like you for who you really are." He said before getting up and going behind her.

He placed the activator in the back of her head and started to reverse the brainwashing and personality changing process.

Maximus gasped as his systems came back online.

"Holy-!" He yelped and jumped up before nearly falling.

Nova grabbed him.

"Woah easy there." She said before helping him back up.

Maximus turned to her and placed a hand on his chest. He took a second or two to calm himself down from the adrenaline rush he just felt.

"Th-thanks. Thanks for helping me." He said with a small smile.

Nova patted his shoulder and smiled. Violet noticed Maximus and smiled widely before running over to them. It's been so long since she'd last seen him, before he was roboticized and placed with her other siblings.

"No problem, just let me know if you need anything." Nova said before walking off.

Maximus sighed and was about to sit down when he noticed Violet. She was a small little kid and had a huge smile on her face.

"Oh uh-"

"Hi Max, it's me. Your older sister!" She smirked at him waiting to see his reaction.

Maximus's eyes widened as this information started messing with his mind. She was so young! There was no way she was older than him!

"No...no you're not!" He wheezed, shaking his head.

Violet crossed her arms and smirked even more.

"Oh yeah I am, I was born before you." She said, enjoying every moment of this.

"No way! There's no way!" Maximus denied, shaking his head even more.

There was just no way!

"Actually kiddo it's true." Oscar's voice said over his communicator.

Maximus jumped nearly ten feet in the air and yelped. Oscar and Violet laughed so hard at his reaction as he looked around.

"Who-who said that?!" He demanded, putting up his fists.

"It's me your concise, nah I'm joking. I'm Oscar your brother." Oscar joked, calming down.

"O-oh, um why weren't you..?"

"I can't use my legs very well, so I'm kinda stuck here." Oscar explained briefly.

The others were hearing Oscar's voice on their communicators as well, since they can't fit the drone in the command center. The kids were starting to get back to normal, finally.

Meanwhile Angela looked down as Mandarin started getting the chip out. Angela was silent for a while. Jinmay noticed this and scooted closer to her.

"I don't think an apology is going to make up for the horrible things I've done." Angela muttered.

Mandarin kept working, letting her continue.

"I went with the worst monster in the universe and betrayed my family...you...how can you forgive me?" Angela asked, trying her hardest not to cry.

"Easy, you're my daughter and Skeleton King seduced you." Mandarin simply said.

Jinmay nodded and gave Angela a warm smile, just to let her know she forgave her too.

"Yeah he made you betray us, he knew what to say to make you want to join up with him." She said.

Angela's face twisted, ready to cry again.

"B-but if I wasn't so weak then I wouldn't have fallen for it." She said softly.

The chip was suddenly taken out as all of her old emotions and thoughts came running back to her. This caused tears to start pouring out of her eyes as she began sobbing. Regret, guilt, and self loathing consumed her as Mandarin pulled her into his side. He stroked her head gently.

"I was going to talk to you about this before...but I should have done it earlier. Much earlier." Mandarin lamented as Jinmay knelt next to Angela.

"We all should have done a better job with that. But you are not weak Angela, not by a long shot." Jinmay said to her, placing her hand on Angela's.

Angela looked doubtfully at her.

"You stopped yourself from what you were going to do to Roland and fought against the chip. That isn't what I would call weakness." Mandarin pointed out, showing her the chip.

Angela stared at it for a brief second before looking away, as if it was something hideous and grotesque. Not a piece of machinery. Mandarin took a deep breath.

"Now look just because you were born in a lab designed to be apart of an army, that doesn't mean that's your ultimate fate." Mandarin began, finally having that talk he's been meaning to do.

Angela looked up at him, frowning.

"But-?!" She began to ask but Mandarin put up a hand.

"Let me finish. There are times when our destinies are chosen for us, that I can agree with, however there are many cases where it's what we do that decides our fates. That I believe is the case for you and your siblings. I placed you and some of your other siblings knowing that wasn't going to be your fate, and so were the others who were taken." He explained.

Angela kept her head at Mandarin's side, listening. Jinmay nodded, wanting to get her own say in this.

"Yeah I don't remember what I was built for, but I'm sure the people who made me didn't make me so that I would end up with Chiro and the others. I'm sure they had different plans." She pointed out.

Mandarin nodded as he stroked Angela's back, but stared at the wall.

"I kept thinking that I would keep leading the Hyperforce for all of eternity, then I thought my fate lies in ruling over Shuggazoom. Then I thought I would serve Skeleton King because he said that was my fate. However I know now that neither of those are true." Mandarin explained.

Angela looked up at him once more, curious.

"Then what is?" She asked.

Mandarin tilted his head, thinking for a moment.

"Hmm good question, but I have a idea that a large part of it now is being your mother." He said, smiling.

Angela's eyes welled up with tears again before smiling and nuzzling him. Jinmay smiled and patted her back.

"We all have insecurities Angie, even me." Jinmay said, rubbing her robotic arm.

Mandarin snickered and looked off to the side.

"Especially me."

Angela quickly got up and pointed at him.

"Only because-!"

"Of Skeleton King, I know." Mandarin said, sighing a bit.

Angela nodded before digging her face into his chest.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry!" She cried.

Mandarin held onto her and rubbed her back, letting her cry.

* * *

Reid gasped as his systems came back online as Jubilee rubbed her head.

"My head feels like a toilet." She grumbled.

"Same here..." Reid said softly before looking around.

"Wait...wait where's-?!"

Antauri took out the activator as Artemis kneeled down to the ground, groaning. Antauri frowned as he knelt down next to her.

"Are you o-?"

"Yahoo!" Artemis cheered, jumping up.

The others looked over to her in concern. Artemis looked over herself with a huge smile, finally she was free! She bounced in place before looking at Antauri.

"Thank you so much Antauri! I feel a ton better! A ton better? Is that how you say it? Oh who cares I feel great!" Artemis chirped before hugging the silver monkey.

Antauri blinked as she let go and ran off towards Penny and Trixie, babbling and talking to her about whatever. Antauri couldn't help but smile, that is until he overheard the conversation between Chiro, Reid, and Jubilee.

"I'm sorry we didn't see this...what was his name again?" Chiro asked as he walked towards the control panel.

Reid and Jubilee looked at each other briefly before looking back at Chiro.

"Our brother wasn't given a name, he had to be roboticized and brainwashed instantly right after us." Reid explained.

Chiro blinked, okay that's gonna be hard.

"Okay then can you tell me what he looks like?" He asked.

Jubilee quickly nodded.

"Yeah he's our height, yellow like us and has brown eyes-" She began.

"Yeah and he's very chubby like-" Reid began before seeing Kuzon walk them.

"Like him! Like him but bigger!" Reid said.

Kuzon stopped and gave them a confused look. Chiro made mental notes of this monkey's appearance. Jubilee looked down a bit and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Please help us find him. He may be a huge dork and a bit of a pushover, but he's also really sweet and...he's our brother." She said softly.

Chiro nodded and smiled, he leaned down to them.

"Don't worry we'll find him. My guess is that he's at the castle still, I don't know why he's there but we'll get him back." He said as Mandarin, Jinmay, and Angela came into the room.

Jinmay walked up to him, sensing the mood.

"Chiro what's wrong?" She asked.

"We need to go back out, we need to find their brother and fast-" Chiro began before the screen flickered.

 _"Have you all missed one?"_ A chilling voice asked.

They all saw Skeleton King as he sat on a throne made of black crystal in the Shuggazoom stadium. Cosmo hid behind Trixie, who held out an arm. Mandarin glared as he held Angela close to him.

"Skeleton King! What do you want?" Chiro asked angrily.

Skeleton King chuckled as he motioned his staff towards the city.

 _"I would just like to inform you that you have one more warrior of mine to ."_ He stated as Skelemandarin hopped up next to him.

The others looked towards each other in confusion.

"Titan?" Mandarin asked for clarification.

Artemis gulped, having a bad feeling about what project Titan was. Maximus, meanwhile, was shaking and looking down. He knew what project Titan was, he knew exactly what it was.

 _"Yes that is his new name after all, since you didn't even bother to give him one."_ Skelemandarin said cruelly.

"The robots didn't give me time to name him! They took him off before I could do anything!" Mandarin defended, taking a step forward.

"Mandarin! What have you done to him?" Antauri asked, glaring.

Jubilee snarled and got in front of Antauri.

"You better not have hurt my brother!" She growled,gritting her teeth.

 _"Oh! And what are you going to do about it you little traitor?!"_ Skelemandarin huffed.

Jubilee put up her fists.

"You're gonna have to answer to my fists that's what!" She snapped before Reid grabbed her arm.

He gave her a stern look.

"Settle down, where is he?" He angrily asked, eyes narrowed.

Skeleton King smirked and motioned towards the city.

 _"Why don't you find out for yourselves? I'm sure his new self will be quite a surprise."_ He said before chuckling evilly.

Mandarin glared at him, just what does he mean by that?

 _"Oh! But do be quick about it, if not your precious city will be in shambles."_ Skeleton King threatened before the screen cutted to a part of the city.

Nothing was seeming to happen, until a huge explosion took down one of the smaller buildings. There were a few gasps and shouts of shock as Mandarin suddenly felt sick. Skeleton King's face popped up one more time.

 _"Time is running out, boy."_

The screen went black as many of the others went into a frenzy.

"What's going on?!"

"What did that bastard-?!"

"Roland language!"

"Nows not the time for language correction!"

"Why is his name Titan now?!"

"I have another brother?!"

"Team!" Chiro yelled, causing everyone to stop panicking.

Chiro inhaled and exhaled, calming his own worried feelings.

"We need to get there and find Titan before any more damage is done to the city. You guys stay here in case he comes here." Chiro said to the ex-army members.

Artemis and the others nodded.

"I'll come with you, just in case." Oscar said.

Chiro nodded, he had a feeling they will need him.

"Alright, monkeys mobilize!"

The team began to rush off before realizing Roland was starting to follow. Mandarin motioned the others to wait. He kneeled down to him.

"Roland you need to stay here." He said.

Roland quickly stepped back and shook his head.

"What?! Now way I need to go! I can fight too!" He said, thinking that Mandarin now thought he isn't allowed to fight.

Mandarin stroked his son's head.

"I need you to stay here so you can protect Penny and the babies. You are certainly strong enough, can you do this?" He asked.

Roland paused and stared at him for a minute before smiling bravely and nodding.

"I sure can!" He said.

Mandarin smiled and kissed the top of his head before turning and going towards the transport tube.

* * *

The team made it to the site of the explosion. Gibson's scanner showed that Titan was still around.

"You sure it's him?" Otto asked Gibson quietly.

"It's giving off the same readings as the destroyed building. No doubt about it, it's him." Gibson said.

Mandarin looked down at Gibson before searching for Titan. This part of the city was a wreck, buildings were crumbling and scorched, cars were thrown around, and smoke poured into the sky.

They looked around a bit more before they saw a 8 foot tall figure crushing a car before throwing it towards a building. Mandarin narrowed his eyes, wondering if it was a trick. The figure quickly stood up and turned.

The figure was huge and muscular, with huge bulky arms and thick legs. He had thick grey and black armor covering his whole body, except a yellow tail. He had differently designed metal arms, and a helmet that was molded around his robot monkey head. The helmet had a red viewfinder and his muzzle was completely covered.

The others were frozen in shock at what they saw. This couldn't be Titan, it just couldn't! Gibson looked down at his scanner, the readings matched. Mandarin felt extremely sick and horrified, his eyes locked on Titan.

Titan looked at the team for a brief second before holding up his arms in front of him, and firing multiple missiles. The team quickly dodged as Titan charged at them. Oscar was about to fire before his drone was grabbed from behind. Titan tore through the drone and was destroyed instantly.

"Are you kidding me?! How did he do that?!" Oscar yelled as the outside camera fell to the ground.

"Did Skeleton King make him that strong?!" 84 questioned.

Sprx was about to retaliate before he was punched down and Titan kicked Nova as she tried to defend him. Antauri came flying at him.

"Forgive me." He said before trying to claw at him.

Titan grabbed his hand and tossed him aside harshly. He then shot a missile from his knee at Jinmay. She dodged and was about to fire back, but she only got a few missiles in before a dragon esque like mouth piece appeared on Titan's mouth. He let out a huge amount of energy balls before one hit her.

"Careful! He's faster than he looks!" Gibson warned before Titan saw him and slammed his fist on the ground.

The sheer force forced Gibson into the air and he fell.

"Scratch Scratch Doom Thrower!" Otto yelled as he used his attack.

Titan put up his arm as the shards came flying at his face. When it stopped he turned one of his hands into a blaster and started firing at him. He felt Mandarin come up behind him and Titan elbowed him hard in the stomach. As Mandarin grimaced and clutched his stomach, Titan turned and punched him. Chiro then threw a few Chiro spearos at him, trying to distract him. One hit Titan in the head before the huge monkey turned and smacked him with his tail. Chiro fell back with the others as Titan kept fighting Mandarin. He shakily got to his knees.

"Our attacks are doing nothing on him!" Nova coughed.

"Team, sky formation D!" He said as the others got into the sky, minus Mandarin who was still recovering from the attacks.

Titan noticed this and his mouthpiece changed colors as he fired a huge force of energy, causing the others to fall back. Titan started to walk towards them before a car flew at him and the two flew into one of the screened buildings. Mandarin pants and sighed, dropping his arms.

"I'm sorry." He muttered.

The cloud of dust was still dancing around before the car flew back at Mandarin, hitting him hard enough for him to fall back. When the dust settled, Titan sat up and cracked his neck.

"That didn't even scratch him, how is he still standing?!" Gibson questioned, sitting up and wincing in pain.

The screen went from a bottle ad to Skeleton King and Skelemandarin.

 _"It's quite simple actually."_ Skeleton King said.

Mandarin got up and glared, a mix of feelings flowing through him. Skeleton King noticed this and chuckled darkly.

 _"I have seen you met the second Supreme Destructor, he is quite strong isn't he?"_ He cooed as Titan stood up straight.

"The second?" Chiro asked, nearly sputtering his words.

Skeleton King nodded.

 _"I have figured to try again with this concept and I have to say, it's working out much better than last time."_ He said, eying Mandarin.

Mandarin glared at him even more, that familiar feeling coming back slowly.

"Really?" He questioned, nearly growling.

 _"For one thing, we made it so he would shut up and just followed orders perfectly and efficiently."_ Leader said, his image popping up on another screen.

 _"That and we gave him a few more deadly weapons and better armor, not like that two piece nightmare that Sakko gave you."_ 43 chortled.

Titan cracked his knuckles as he was getting ready to attack again.

 _"We-or should I say I- gave him all of the information about your weaknesses and abilities so he would know just how to defeat you."_ Skelemandarin smugly said, tapping the top of his head.

 _"Thus we have made a more improved Supreme Destructor, one that will finally destroy you for good chosen one!"_ Skeleton King laughed.

The team stood up and glared as Mandarin became suspicious. Mandarin prayed he wasn't right if he asked this.

"Did you give him new organs too?" He suddenly asked, causing the team to look at him.

 _"Well of course, his old organs wouldn't have been able to survive the transformation."_ Skeleton King replied, seeming to be hiding something.

Mandarin paused for a moment, seething.

"What else? I have a hard time believing you would stop at just making my child into a weapon and not do anything else with it. I mean that is what you have said about me isn't it?" He questioned.

Skeleton King didn't answer, he just turned away. A sudden gush of wind passed through the others. Horror came over Mandarin as he realized what else he did.

"You put an artificial womb in him too didn't you?!" He yelled and in sheer rage fired missiles at the screen.

Titan dodged as the screen exploded and started throwing sharp blades from his knuckles. The others quickly dodged as they felt extremely sick and enraged. However that rage was an ant compared to the fiery rage that Mandarin was currently experiencing. Leader's face appeared on another screen.

 _"I won't deny that one day we will use him to create more soldiers like you, that is when we have taken over Shuggazoom. That way so we will have twice as quick production time so we can send more soldiers into the universe."_ He explained as the team dodged the oncoming attacks.

Mandarin and the team dodged Titan's attacks before growing more and more angry. All of the anger that had been washed away by sadness and fear has now exploded and has come back full force. The team even noticed this and was both a bit scared and very relieved.

 _"However only this time he will more than likely accept that fate. If we had two subjects to provide us an army, we could have more Supreme destructors, if we had more Supreme destructors we could have some of them become subjects. You robot monkeys sure are a gateway to all sorts of possibilities."_ Leader commented as Skeleton King's face popped up.

 _"In our humble opinion Mandarin, you should keep having children so that way we can use them for other experiments."_ He said.

Mandarin snarled and fired at the other screen. It exploded on impact as an image of 43 popped up on another screen.

 _"Why are you angry? This doesn't concern you anymore, once Titan was given over his fate was sealed. You knew there was nothing to be done, so why bother?"_ Skelemandarin asked as Mandarin stopped in his tracks.

"No...there is something I **can** do." He growled before looking in the direction of the stadium.

"Child, keep him busy for as long as you can. I'll be right back." Mandarin said sternly.

Chiro was about to protest, saying that they possibly can't keep him busy for that long. However he paused and nodded. Mandarin then began to storm towards the stadium. Titan got in his way and was about to attack him again, but Mandarin picked him up and set him aside.

"Don't worry, I won't let him touch you ever again."

Titan stared at him as he stormed off, almost remembering something.

"He's angry again...mom's angry again!" Roland excitedly yelled as the others cheered.

* * *

Ooh Skeleton King, you've just made mama very pissed! Thanks for reading!


	28. Chapter 28

*Wheezes* Holy moly I think this is the final chapter! Now as for Heavy rotation...I'm still struggling to write it. I'm trying to work on it as much as I can but I only seem to be writing like every Wednesday or so. That and I'm trying to work on a few other stories as well but it's been hard given my internship and overall drive right now. So Heavy Rotation will come out..when I can finish it. I swear I will try to work on it and finish it as much as I can but right now writing is a bit hard. But hey! The last chapter is finally here! Thank you guys so much for reading this and reviewing it, despite my messed up updating schedules. Please enjoy!

* * *

"Where the hell is he going?" Leader asked, having a bad feeling.

Skeleton King watched him before he was suddenly out of sight. Before he could order his formless minions to go after Mandarin, he heard loud banging on the stadium doors. The doors then flew off as a enraged Mandarin stormed in.

Skelemandarin felt his heart go up to his throat in fear as he looked to Skeleton King. Skeleton King was frozen, staring at his own creation in sheer horror. 43 and Leader jumped down and 43 charged at Mandarin. He transformed his hand into a blaster and held it out.

"You stay away from lord-!"

Mandarin grabbed 43 tightly and flung him back, sending him into a wall. Leader looked to 43 before looking at Mandarin. Mandarin cracked his knuckles, fire in his eyes. Leader flinched at his fury before knowing he had to fight him. He pulled out an array of weapons and started to blast all of them at Mandarin. The dust cleared as Mandarin dusted his chest, not looking injured in the slightest.

"Are you...serious?!" Leader yelled before Mandarin kicked him.

Leader got back up and pulled out a long blade and began to charge at him.

Skelemandarin gulped in fear watching the two battle. It was clear that Leader was no match for him, hell no one in this stadium was any match for an enraged Mandarin right now. Skeleton King glared and turned to the clone.

"What are you sitting there for?! Go after him!" Skeleton King snapped at him.

Skelemandarin's mouth dropped and he looked down at his original. He was so much more larger and powerful than him! There was no way he could defeat him! Skelemandarin despite that sighed before he yelled and jumped down. He transformed his arm into a long blade and charged at Mandarin as he held up a beaten up Leader. Mandarin eyed Skelemandarin before throwing Leader at him. Skelemandarin jumped over him as he was ready to strike. Mandarin then shot him one of the leftover sticky bullets he had from his knuckles. This caused Skelemandarin to stick to the ground. He tried to struggle but it was no use.

"I'll deal with you another day, he's mine." Mandarin growled as he marched towards Skeleton King.

A chill went up Skelemandarin's spine when he heard that. Skeleton King flinched and gathered a bunch of Formless, but with one punch to the ground they all flew up and fell back to the ground.

Skeleton King cursed before realizing Mandarin was really close to him. Mandarin's nostrils flared as he breathed heavily.

"You..." Mandarin growled.

Skeleton King got back and took out his staff. He started firing electricity at him.

"You experimented on me..." Mandarin began as he blocked each attack.

"Get back!" Skeleton King ordered.

"Forcibly gave me a womb..."

"I said get back!"

"Left me in a lab with abusive robots...who forced me to get pregnant several times...which gave me depression and post traumatic stress disorder..."

Skeleton King kept firing and stepping back. Why wasn't any of his attacks working?!

"Had my children be brainwashed and forced to follow you...treating most of them like dirt..." Mandarin continued, rage flowing through him.

Skeleton King kept firing, an unknown and yet familiar emotion forming in him.

"And on top of all that mutated my son and forced him to also have an artificial womb!" Mandarin yelled before punching him square in the face.

"My lord!" Skelemandarin and Leader yelled.

The kids at the robot cheered loudly as they watched their mother fight against Skeleton King.

"Kick his butt mom!" Roland cheered.

"Make him suffer for what he did to our brother!" Jubilee yelled, jumping up and down.

"Remind me never to make mommy mad." Penny whispered to Artemis, who nodded in agreement.

Skeleton King held his face with one hand, pain and anger surging through him.

"It never would have happened if you just didn't fail your duties!" He barked, swinging his staff at Mandarin.

The staff only got a few hits in before Mandarin grabbed it.

"That doesn't give you the right to experiment on me and mistreat my children!" He snarled and whipped Skeleton King around.

Skeleton King felt himself being slammed against the wall and floor a few times before being punched a few good times. Each punch was for Mandarin and his kids. He was then slammed hard against the floor. Mandarin stood over him, his anger subsiding. Skeleton King weakly sat up, scratches apparent on his skull and pain wracking his body.

"What will you do now Mandarin? Destroy me?" He asked tauntingly.

Mandarin shook his head.

"As much as I hate you, that isn't my job. It will be Chiro who will finish you, though I guess I did him a favor by weakening you." Mandarin chortled before he turned and began to walk off.

Skeleton King weakly held himself up by his staff and glared at him.

"Where are you going now?! Too afraid to fight?!" He demanded.

Mandarin looked back at him and narrowed his eyes.

"Nope, I have one more child to tear away from your grasp." He simply said before leaving the stadium.

* * *

Titan kept trying to get a hit on the team. He appeared to be growing tired, seeing as how he was getting slower and his strength seemed to be weakening. However that didn't mean he can't still cause damage, because he still had the upper hand.

"Oscar! Can you still communicate with us?" Antauri asked.

"Sure can, why?" Oscar asked over the communicators.

"Please find a way to stop him! We keep trying to stop him but he's too fast!" Antauri said before Titan whipped him with his tail.

"Got it!" Oscar said before typing, trying to find a way to stop him.

Nothing came up, all information on new supreme destructors was completely blank. Oscar quietly cursed before turning the communicator.

"I'm not finding anything! I guess Skeleton King really wanted to keep this new Supreme Destructor thing a secret for a while." Oscar breathed.

Maximus meanwhile, was shaking as he walked up to the control panel. He stood there for a moment, looking down at the buttons. Artemis noticed this and placed a hand on his back. Violet went up next to him, unsure why he was looking so nervous.

"Max?" Violet asked.

Maximus sighed before he turned on the communicator.

"Wait I know how to stop him!" He said, causing the others to perk up and listen.

"He wasn't into the idea of being the next Supreme Destructor, so we made a helmet to control him. The power is in the helmet!" He explained.

Sprx paused, thinking.

"So the helmet is doing all of this?" He questioned.

"That's what I just-! Yes!" Maximus huffed.

Chiro grinned, the one weakness Titan seemed to have.

"Well then let's get that helmet off!"

Titan was about to throw a car at them when it blew up in his hands. He turned to Mandarin and froze.

"Don't worry Titan, I'm not going to let Skeleton King keep his hold on you." He said before he darted towards him.

Titan flinched back and began to protect himself as Mandarin kept trying to reach for his helmet.

Titan then used his large jetpack and flew up. Gibson and Sprx flew up and used their double monkey attack to subdue him. He fell back down and he shakily got back up.

He backed up and blasted multiple missiles at the team, trying to shoot them down. They dodged it and kept aiming for his helmet.

Titan shielded himself before he made his hands into two light yellow blades and went after them. He tried to swipe at Chiro.

"Monkey fu!" Chiro blasted a huge amount of green energy from his hands, making Titan fall back.

Titan shakily sat up, noticeably weakened. He tried to get up again but he felt two huge arms wrap around him. Titan struggled against Mandarin's hold as Chiro went over to him.

"Hold still." Mandarin said sternly.

"Where were you?" Chiro asked, cautiously eyeing him.

Mandarin briefly eyed the side before looking back at the young leader, .

"Well for now let's just say you won't be having a hard time defeating Skeleton King. I may have weakened him a tad bit for you." Mandarin stated before smirking a bit.

Chiro leaned back a bit but smiled before continuing what he was doing before.

"Good, cause when the time comes I may need it." He said before the two briefly laughed.

Chiro looked for a way to take the helmet off before noticing the buttons in the back. He eyed Mandarin as the orange monkey nodded. With one arm still holding him, he fiddled with the buttons. Titan suddenly froze and dipped his head. His helmet split apart and fell to the ground. The team rushed over to him and watched as he raised his head.

Titan's dark brown eyes blinked and looked around, shaking a bit and generally looking confused. Mandarin let go of him as Titan stood up.

"Um...what? I..." He then saw the wreckage and destruction he caused.

"I...have so much to clean up!" Titan exclaimed before looking at the broken down cars.

"I don't even know how to fix a car!" He lamented as he fell to his knees, putting his hands on his head.

He felt a hand on his shoulder as he turned to Chiro, who smiled.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of it." He said.

Titan got to his feet and shook his head.

"No I destroyed this place! I should fix the city-!" He began before he felt Mandarin wrap his arms around him, causing the lemon yellow monkey to yelp.

"What you should be doing is resting. This isn't your fault anyway." Mandarin huffed, resting his head on Titans.

Titan nervously looked up at him, fear creeping into his chest.

"E-erm sure." He mumbled.

The team felt a ton of relief before seeing the robot fly over and touch down. The foot to the robot opened as the others were waiting. When they saw Titan, Jubilee and Reid tearfully ran towards him. Tears welled in Titan's eyes as he held out his huge arms and held his siblings close to him. Reid worriedly looked him over, shocked by what Skeleton King did while Jubilee just hugged her brother and cried in relief. The others soon ran towards the team and joined them. Mandarin was quickly jumped on by Roland as he gushed over how cool he was fighting Skeleton King as Angela and Maurice clung to him. Penny and Violet ran up to Titan and circled him, excited over having a brother this big and strong. Chiro and Antauri happily watched the scene as the others talked with the un-brainwashed army. Oscar meanwhile sat back and sighed.

"Well 84, it's time to go and fix up the others." He said, stretching.

"What about Leader and 43? They're still with Skeleton King!" 84 reminded him.

Oscar frowned a bit and dropped his arms.

"I haven't forgotten about them. We'll help them another day, right now we need to get the others and fix them up, and get me a new mech too. Then we'll be able to save Leader and 43." He said before looking back at 84, before realizing the robot wrapped his arms around him.

"Hey! What-?!" Oscar began but 84 interrupted him.

"Thank you...thank you and your family for stopping mine...and saving them in a way." 84 said softly.

Oscar blinked and let him continue.

"Because now we can be who we really are again, we can help people again...and I am so sorry for what we did to your mother." 84 lamented.

Oscar smiled a bit.

"Hey I bet he'd be really happy to hear that and to hear your guys story. Also uh I don't exactly feel comfortable calling him mom." He admitted, causing 84 to pull back.

"Huh? What do you mean?" He asked.

Oscar looked back at the scene as Mandarin held onto Melody and Mason.

"Me personally I don't feel comfortable calling him mom or whatever. I mean yeah he gave birth to us but I dunno I just see him as a dad. Maybe that's just me." Oscar explained, but still watched the scene with a smile as emotion clouded his eyes.

84 blinked but nodded.

"Whatever makes you comfortable...leader."

Oscar felt pride in his new title as he gave 84 a nod.

* * *

The four red monkeys, or J sisters as Violet called them, got the team's attention as some of them cleaned up the wreckage near the bridge.

"Um..." Jerica tried to say but due to her real personality of being rather shy and bad with social skills, she found it hard to speak.

Jessy elbowed her sister gently, causing Jerica nodded and looked back to the team.

"Erm in a few days we will be leaving to find our donors." She announced.

Most of the others relied back in surprise at the news.

"What?!" Most of them exclaimed.

Mandarin intently listened, curious. Jerica flinched at the response but continued to explain.

"We-we still don't know what Skeleton King did to the donors. We don't know if he ki-uh...destroyed them or if he experimented on them." She explained as Jamie nodded.

"Besides it'll be nice to see what's beyond Shuggazoom." She said as Jessy muttered,

"Yeah and to get away from all this war and stuff."

She was then elbowed by Jamie, who elbowed her right back. Antauri chuckled before floating over to them.

"Do you know where they are?" He asked.

The four looked at each other, trying to see if any of them knew where.

"No...but Oscar might know. I mean he's in charge of the labs now, he probably has info on it." Janice said.

"Yep I got all of the information on where they came from and what their names are. It's a jungle planet called Susiko and it's pretty filled to the brim with wildlife. Just don't get mauled by a tiger." Oscar joked.

Jamie waved her hand and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah yeah." She sighed.

Otto smiled widely.

"Aw that sounds really cool! I wanna go." He sighed.

Janice shook her head and crossed her arms.

"No you have a job to do here. You can't go on vacations during a war." She said sternly.

Otto dipped his body in defeat.

"You're more strict than Gibson is." He grumbled as Mandarin picked him up and nuzzled him.

Mandarin then looked back down at the girls.

"When are you leaving?" He asked.

"In a few days, we need time to get supplies and find a ship." Jamie said before Jessy held onto her.

"That and spend a bit of time with you." She chirped.

Artemis clutched her chest and leaned back dramatically.

"So sweet I'm gonna die!" She exclaimed, causing Penny to laugh.

Trixie giggled and tapped her communicator.

"If you don't mind Oscar I'd like to help out, especially with the DNA samples. I mean you two can't work in that lab alone." She said.

"Hey you don't have to put it like that." 84 huffed as Oscar laughed.

"I don't mind, we could use a few extra hands. Especially when trying to make a ramp for me to get out."

Trixie nodded and grabbed Maximus.

"And me and Max can help with that!" She chirped.

"We can?" Maximus asked before Trixie glared at him.

Maximus sighed and dipped his head.

"Okay fine, it might give me something to do."

Reid then noticed Titan and Jubilee leaning over the pier, looking into the water. Jubilee then lifted her head and turned to Chiro.

"Hey scarf boy!" She called out, getting the others attention.

Jubilee pointed to the water as Titan looked back.

"Has anyone ever jumped into this water and lived?" She asked.

Chiro scratched his head, confused as to what they're doing.

"Um yeah a bunch of people skinny dip there sometimes but I wouldn't-"

Jubilee grinned and turned to Titan.

"Okay let's do it!" She said before the two stood up and jumped into the cold water.

The team rushed over and looked over the edge. A few seconds later the two's heads popped out of the water and they started splashing each other. Chiro looked to Mandarin, who nodded.

"Hey-!" Chiro began but another voice rang out.

"Hey! You two get back up here right now!" Reid scolded, causing the others to look at him.

Jubilee and Titan stopped splashing and looked up at him.

"Aw come on Reid, we could use a dip." Jubilee whined.

Titan nodded a bit. Reid glared at them and pointed towards the edge.

"Here, now. We still have lots of work to do, not go swimming in the ocean! Besides who knows what's in those waters?" He said sternly.

Titan looked at the city and cringed.

"G-good point." He said before swimming towards the edge.

"Titan!" Jubilee huffed before swimming towards him.

Mandarin noticed Titan's motives.

"Oh no you need to rest." He huffed as Titan was going to pick up some debris.

Chiro stared at Reid as he sighed. Reid noticed Chiro staring at him.

"What? Someone's gotta keep those two in line." He said as Jubilee got out of the water.

Chiro nodded as Jubilee grumbled and Titan started apologizing. Good point indeed.

* * *

The four villains eventually got back to the castle after the team went home. Skeleton King shakily sat on his throne while Leader and 43 were being fixed up. Skelemandarin was still stuck in the gunk and was fuming. Skeleton King rubbed his temples and sighed.

"What do we do now lord Skeleton King? I mean they got your army." 43 said.

Skeleton King was silent for a while.

"Lord-?"

"Silence!" Skeleton King snapped.

43 flinched back as Leader eyed him.

Skeleton King thought a bit more before grinning.

"I have a plan, but it may take a while for it to go into motion." He said.

The three looked at each other.

"However, we will need something to keep the Hyperforce busy until that plan is ready." Skeleton King said as he looked at the DNA strands of some of the monkeys he still had leftover.

"Busy?" Skelemandarin asked.

Skeleton King nodded.

"I will explain the details of our plan later, right now I need to speak to someone." He said as he used the mist to get into contact.

Skeleton King grinned as the image of who he wanted to speak with came up.

"This is Queen Naru of the Nafirti Empire, who...wait is that you?" The person asked.

Skeleton King grinned.

"Yes it is I child, remember when I said that I would return in need of assistance? Well I came to you with that request. I mean it is the least you could do since the technology and power I gave to your kind." He explained.

After a moment the image of the person became clearer as a dark blue robot monkey with a crown made of sharp teeth and white stripes leaned in. She smiled coldly.

"I would be more than happy to listen, if my people get partial control of half of Shugazoom's solar system." Naru said.

Skeleton King nodded and chuckled darkly.

"But of course, we have a lot to discuss."

* * *

Later that night, all of the kids were on Angela's bed. They stared up at the ceiling while Penny was asleep.

"Geez what a day." Kuzon muttered.

"Yeah no kidding." Roland said softly.

Maurice looked at Roland, who was still wearing Mandarin's old armor.

"Just how long are you going to keep wearing that?" He asked.

"It's not like I'm gonna wear it forever." Roland said, rolling his eyes.

"Still you gotta take it off to at least wash it." Violet teased.

"I will! Jeez!"

The others laughed before Maurice turned to Angela.

"What about you? You think you can take your armor off? Is it permanent?" He asked.

Angela gripped her arm.

"No I can take it off...but for some weird reason I don't want to take the metallic parts off." She said softly.

Roland sat up, his eyes widened.

"Huh?! Why?" He asked.

Angela kept staring at the ceiling.

"For some reason I don't want to turn all of these parts into something Skeleton King ruined. The others look like this and I don't want that monster to take what made looking like this so important away from me." She explained, not taking her eyes away from the ceiling.

Kuzon sadly rolled over to her.

"Ange..."

Angela quickly sat up, frowning.

"That being said," She growled, taking off the black body armor, along with the black gloves and black armor on her working leg.

"I refuse to have this on me! As a reminder for how stupid I was!" She snapped, throwing the armor on the floor.

The sound woke Penny up as she sat up and looked around. When she saw how distressed Angela looked she crawled over to her and wrapped her arms around her.

"Angie...don't be sad...be...glad." Penny said sleepily.

Angela looked down at her as Penny fell back asleep.

Kuzon nodded as he held himself up.

"Yeah it's over now. You don't have to feel so guilty anymore." He said.

Angela looked off to the side.

"I dunno if I'll feel better right away,"

Angela then smiled a bit.

"but I'll feel better soon. A few days tops." She said.

Roland pointed at her, still lying down.

"Ya better, or else we'll all have to sit on your bed and make you feel better!" He threatened.

Angela laughed hard.

"Okay fine!" She snickered before laying back down, Penny still clinging to her.

It was silent for a moment.

"So now we got all our siblings back on our side...man it's gonna get so crowded!" Violet whined

Maurice closed his eyes and nodded.

"Yep, but I think it's gonna be fine." He said.

Angela nodded.

"I'd rather have that than how it was going to be, with being a soldier." She said softly.

Everyone silently agreed as they kept staring up at the ceiling, not saying anything.

* * *

The day after all that's happened was truly a chaotic one. Everyone tried to make as much breakfast as possible for the new monkeys and ho boy was there a lot to be made.

Yet at the same time something was missing.

"Where's mommy?" Penny asked.

The others looked at each other.

"I haven't seen him, did you?" Antauri asked Otto.

Otto looked down a bit.

"Actually..."

* * *

Mandarin curled up under the covers, his mind fuzzy and he had no energy.

He thought he was getting better, he thought he was past this. Yet here he was, depressed and lethargic again. Tears stung his eyes as he curled up even more. He heard the door open and he saw Otto with a plate of a cheese omelet and small potato pieces.

"Hey Mandy." He greeted with a sympathetic smile.

"Mm." Mandarin muttered.

Otto kissed his head and held out the plate.

"You hungry? I can put this on your nightstand if you want." He said.

Mandarin shook his head and grabbed the plate. He stopped for a moment.

"I'm so sorry."

"Mandarin no don't apologize." Otto started but Mandarin quickly shook his head.

"I thought I was getting better! I thought I was becoming myself again and that I could take care of my children properly, not doing this again!" Mandarin snapped, rubbing his face.

He dipped his head as Otto rubbed his shoulder.

"It's okay Mandy, depression doesn't go away for some people. It may take them a really long time to recover. That's what Antauri said anyway." Otto said.

Mandarin looked up at him.

"What if..at times I still..."

Otto smiled a bit and then kissed him. The two held onto the kiss for a while before letting go.

"Then we will keep loving and helping you. We'll make it so your depression and ptsd is manageable and so you can take care of the kids." Otto told him, stroking his face.

Mandarin teared up and held Otto's hand against his face.

"But the infants..." He murmured.

Otto leaned in to hear him better but shook his head.

"Don't worry, we can keep them in here until they get big enough like Erin is right now." Otto suggested.

Mandarin looked down and sighed with frustration.

"But we just made their nursery..." He grumbled.

"Don't worry, it's not like they're not gonna be in it." Otto said before hearing a noise behind the door.

The two looked over at the door as they heard more noises.

"Kuzon keep quiet!" Roland snapped.

"I'm trying! Penny won't stop getting on my back." Kuzon huffed.

"I wanna open the door!" Penny defended.

"They're talking! We can't interrupt them." Maurice said.

"Is he okay in there? By himself?" Trixie asked.

"He's not by himself, Otto's with him right squish ball?" Violet chirped

"Ye!" Erin babbled as Mason cooed loudly.

Mandarin and Otto looked at each other before Otto opened the door, causing a few of the kids to fall to the floor. Mandarin sat up a bit and smiled as Erin laughed at his siblings. The seven kids ran up to Mandarin while the others peered into the room worriedly.

"Morning Mommy!" Penny chirped, getting on the bed.

"Morning." Mandarin replied.

"How are you feeling mom?" Maurice asked.

Mandarin smirked at his son.

"To be honest, like garbage." He sighed.

The kids got up onto the bed.

"Aww don't feel like garbage! Here have an Erin." Violet said holding up the grey monkey.

Mandarin held out a hand as Erin crawled onto it. Mandarin held Erin close to him.

"Have you come to stay with me too?" He asked Erin.

Erin giggled and put his hands on Mandarin's face.

"Mama."

Mandarin nuzzled his son before looking at Angela, who looked depressed. He leaned down and stroked her head.

"Do you feel like garbage too?" He asked, causing the yellow monkey to nod.

He pulled her close to him. Angela looked up at him before curling up next to him.

"Don't worry Angela, we can spend the whole day feeling like garbage together." Mandarin said softly.

Roland got onto his belly and sighed, tired.

"I don't wanna do anything for a month." He breathed.

Otto got onto his belly too.

"Me too, I'm so sleepy." He sighed as Maurice smirked at him.

"Nice try but Chiro said you have to help the construction workers fix the city today." He said, making Otto whine.

Mandarin then looked over at the others, who peeked in the room nervously.

"You don't have to hide in there." He said, causing the others to flinch and slowly make their way in.

They had no idea what to do or even say. Was this normal? Him being so depressed and stuck in bed? Artemis looked towards the others and nodded. However despite their unsure thoughts, the majority of them got onto the bed as the kids talked to each other. Melody and Mason were set next to Mandarin as he stroked their heads.

Melody cooed loudly as Mason yawned and grabbed his large finger.  
The others got comfortable and started to enjoy themselves as Chiro and Antauri stood near the doorway.

"I guess we gotta make the underground base a little bigger huh?" Chiro asked Antauri.

Antauri nodded and looked over to the doorway.

"But of course, that is what we do for family after all." He said.

Otto and Mandarin curled up with each other as the kids talked exclusively. Things seemed brighter now, more complete. The original Mandarin is on their side again and they had a lot more members to join, yet most of all their family was bigger and more complete. Even if there will be a few more bumps ahead, yet it will all be worth it. All because of leaving one child on their doorstep.

* * *

Thank you all so much for reading, Heavy rotation may take a bit this time but I promise...there will be good stuff in it. As for the sequel of this story? Well it's a short sequel for now but let's just say Titan, Jubilee, and Reid's story has only just begun.


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